The Boy Who Fell From the Sky
by girl.with.many.faces
Summary: James Potter was playing quidditch with his best friend, Sirius when a crossdressing boy falls out of the sky! Even weirder, his name is Harry Potter and...they're related?
1. Chapter 1

**I kind of just wanted to write a Harry goes back in time fic where he meets his parents…But he's a little bit different from cannon.**

**Full of crossdressing mayhem and some hints of Harry x Sirius. Don't know if the pairing will go anywhere or not. We'll have to see~**

**I do not own Harry Potter.**

"You're going to have to do better than that, James if you want to get passed me." Sirius taunted from up on his broom by the goal.

James smirked,

"I'll have you know, I'm just getting warmed up. You are a beginner, after all." He said with mock sympathy.

"Oh, please, you're full of it." Sirius snorted.

James gave him another smirk then charged forwards.

"HOLY HELL, WATCH OUT!" someone shouted.

James stopped abruptly and looked towards the shouting, only for another body to slam into his. He barely managed to hold onto his broom.

"James!" Sirius yelled after the two falling bodies and dove after them. Of course, he was too late and the two of them hit the ground. Sirius landed beside them, "James? Are you okay?"  
"Ugh!" James sat up, grabbing the top of his head. He felt like he'd just been hit by a sludge hammer…or a falling girl?  
He looked down at the person who'd hit him.

She was cute, he thought (although no one could compare to Lily), with long, black hair that went down to her mid-back. Her face was scrunched up with pain.

"Shit." She cursed under her breath.

She was dressed weirdly, James noted. In some sort of sailor uniform.

The girl looked up at him, then smiled,

"Thanks for breaking my fall. That was awful nice of you."  
"It…wasn't on purpose." James said hesitantly. Really, it wasn't.

She got up abruptly, then dusted herself off,

"Well…Guess I should go. See ya."

"Wait!" Sirius stopped her, "Where exactly did you fall from?" He looked up, trying to figure out if there was some sort of invisible platform he wasn't seeing.

"Uh…" The girl looked stuck a moment, "I teleported."  
"Apparated?" Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"No, teleported." The girl corrected, "There's a difference."  
"Okay…since you hit me, don't you think I should get an explanation?" James crinkled his nose, still rubbing the back of his head.

The girl let out a sigh,

"Apparition is something wizards do on their own. Teleporting is when someone else sends you."

"Ah." That wasn't what he'd meant when he'd asked, "Where were you trying to go?" He asked her.

"Akihabara Japan." The girl answered readily, her eyes glazed over slightly, "Home of maid cafes, sailor outfits and the neko girl."  
"The…what?" Sirius asked. The maid café part sounded interesting.

"Girls with cat ears who say nyan at the end of every sentence." The girl's eyes gleamed, "Anyways, I should go back home. Luna will be waiting for me in Akihabara and…if she's left waiting too long she'll end up wandering off."

"Oh…" Sirius looked uncertain, although made a mental note to go to this Akihabara place sometime in the future. "Uh…so you don't attend Hogwarts? What school do you go to?"  
"School?" The girl repeated, then seemed to realize something, "Am I…" she looked down at herself, then put her hands on her chest and then traveled them over her body.

James and Sirius both blushed as the girl furrowed her brow in confusion. She then looked down at her hand blankly, as though expecting to see something there.

"Huh…that's weird."

"W-what are you doing?" James stuttered.

"Huh?" The girl asked, tilting her head to the side. She looked confused over something, then recognition flashed across her face, "Oh…fuck. Um…what year is this?"  
"Nineteen seventy-five?" James answered uncertainly.

"Oh…" The girl paused, "And your name is…"  
"Are you taking the micky?" Sirius wondered.

"James. James Potter. This is Sirius. Sirius Black." James introduced.

The girl's face paled considerably,

"Shit…" it had to be some sort of coincidence…right?

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing." The girl brightened, "I'm Harry, by the way."  
"Harry…is that short for Harriet?" Sirius wondered, still having a lot of unanswered questions.  
"Huh?" The girl gave him a weird look, "Oh…it's 'cause I'm dressed as a girl, isn't it?" The 'girl' then reached up and pulled her hair, which came off, revealing short, messy, black hair, not dissimilar to James.

"See? I'm a boy."

Both Sirius and James looked shell-shocked, their jaws fell open slightly as they stared at her.

"Why the hell are you dressed as a girl!?" Sirius shouted, "You do know that only girls wear skirts, right?" He had to ask, because sometimes some of the pureblood families got confused with muggle fashion.  
"Of course." Harry answered as though it were common knowledge, "That's why it's called crossdressing."  
Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose,

"Seriously, who the hell are you!?"

"Harry Potter." Harry beamed at him, "But you can just call me Harry."  
"Potter?" James repeated baffled, "Like…the Potters? Like my family?"  
"It's just a coincidence." Harry waved his hand airily.

Sirius looked between the two,

"Holly shit! He's like your clone!" Sirius shouted, taking a step back.

James looked over at Harry, quickly seeing the similarities as well. They really did look alike. Scarily alike. Hell, they _could_ be twins! Save for Harry's eyes.

"I don't see it." Harry said, then put the wig on James's head, "No, wait…I think I'm getting it now."  
Sirius's lips twitched, he snickered. Then his snickers turned into an all out laugh. James ripped the wig off his head and threw it at Sirius.

Harry shot James a look, then swiped the wig from Sirius and put it back on his head.

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here!?"

The three turned to see Professor McGonagall marching out onto the pitch.

The war was over. Harry had managed to defeat Voldemort. About a year after the chaos, Harry went on a journey to discover himself. He really didn't know who he was after spending so much time fighting for his life…he'd never really thought he'd get the chance to actually live.

Now he had a chance and he could do whatever he wanted.

Harry just so happened to run across Luna Lovegood. She was doing a study on the Kappa in Japan while Harry was there to see the sights.

They ran across each other by pure coincidence, of course.

"I'm very curious about the muggle manga." Luna said airily, "I mean, for some peculiar reason, it comes up a lot in muggle comic books and their depictions are almost always quite accurate. Would you help me study this phenomenon?"

Harry, having jumped from job to job since the war was open to any means of making money and Luna was offering to pay.

However, after about a month, Harry found he was actually enjoying manga and anime.

It was funny, awkward, perverted and most of the time, he was quite sure that none of those situations would actually happen in real life.

Luna, being the oddball that she is, started enjoying it as well and the two of them formed a far deeper connection than they had before.

At some point, Luna convinced him to do a crossplay and…although embarrassing at first, it grew less embarrassing really fast.

Luna had said he was a bit of a bishonen, and most people found his crossdressing to be weirdly believable. Even Ron had accidentally hit on him in a bar once.

It was an incident Harry liked to tease him over to this day.

Then…one evening, late at night, a massive, cloaked figure appeared before his bed.

Harry woke up and drew his wand immediately.

"Master…" The figure spoke.

"Mas…ter?" Harry repeated confusedly.

"I…am…Death…you…are….my…master."  
"Uh…" Harry trailed off. How was someone supposed to respond to a large, imposing figure claiming to be Death, standing over their bed at night and calling them master?

"Okay." Harry decided.

"I…shall…grant…my…master's…wish…"  
Harry's eyes widened and his face lit up.

"Really?"

Considering the circumstances, Harry thought it was really quite reasonable to assume his wish was to go with Luna to Akihabara. That had been what the two of them had been saving up to do all year.

"Wait! I can't go dressed like this!"

One change of clothes later and Harry was dressed as a Japanese school girl.

Death did not find this odd in the slightest, or if he did, he didn't say anything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter in and I still don't own Harry Potter…**

**I hope you're enjoying it though (^_^)**

Sent back in time. Harry realized (though not very quickly mind you) that he'd somehow been sent back in time.

What were the rules exactly? He wondered, was he allowed to change the past? Could he tell his parents they were his parents? Would they even believe him? And more importantly…what about all the anime from his present that he hadn't watched yet?

Madam Pomfrey was frowning, she looked up at Harry in confusion,

"You're a boy?"  
"Hm? Oh, right. Yes. I'm crossdressing." Harry explained and not for the first time that day.

"He fell out of the sky." James grimaced, although the back of his head didn't hurt anymore after Madam Pomfrey had taken care of him.

"And what's your name, young man?" Madam Pomfrey asked him calmly.

"Harry Potter."  
"Potter?" She looked over at James.

"It's a coincidence." James said.

"I'm not so sure." Sirius added in, "Look, they're identical." He pulled off the wig Harry was wearing to reveal his messy, black hair.

Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall both looked surprised. Their expressions were nearly identical, in fact.

"Not true!" Harry protested, "Our noses look completely different!"

"Our noses?" James paused then looked over at him questioningly.

"Well, they do." Harry said, "Mine's smaller. Definitely cuter than yours."  
Sirius snorted and James looked at him disbelievingly,

"It's not a competition."  
"And our eyes are different colors." Harry added in, "Mine are green. Yours are brown."  
"Hazel." James corrected.

"I like mine more." Harry insisted.

"Again, it's not a competition."

Sirius turned to McGonagall, hoping for some sort of explanation,

"This is weird, right? I mean, he basically fell out of the sky and hit James…and his last name is Potter…"  
McGonagall looked over at Harry,

"Mister Potter…where did you come from exactly? Do you have any relatives?"

"All my family is dead." Harry dismissed, "I'm an orphan. It's been that way since I was one. I travel about looking for work mostly. I'm fifteen now, so I can do that full time."  
Pity stories always made people sad and gained him a bit of sympathy in times he needed it. It wasn't entirely a lie, after all. That was what he was going to have to do. He had no resources really, and he was fifteen again.

"And…what sort of work requires you to dress as a girl?" McGonagall inquired, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"You know…normal stuff." Harry waved away.

Everyone looked doubtful.

"Ouch!" Harry hissed as he felt his shoulder being pricked.

"Sorry, dear." Madam Pomfrey said, "I figured it was best to do it while you were distracted."  
"Do what?" Harry crinkled his nose, then rubbed the spot on his arm where he'd felt the small sting.

He watched as she took out some parchment and placed it on the bedside table, then allowed some of his blood to drip onto the sheet.

McGonagall peered over her shoulder,

"That's…" she gave a deep breath, "I suppose I'll be flooing the Potters."  
"Huh? Why?" Harry crossed his arms and furrowed his brow in genuine confusion.

"It seems your last name isn't as coincidental as you originally thought." McGonagall said.

"We're related!?" James shouted, his face pale as he looked over at Harry.

"Why do you look so traumatised?" Harry frowned, then crossed his arms, "What about how I feel?"  
"You!?" James shouted.

"Yeah!" Harry matched his volume, "I just found out I have family. What if they're a bunch of weirdos?"

James paused and stared at him blankly before turning to Sirius,

"The crossdresser in the sailor girl school outfit is worried my mum and dad are weirdos."

Sirius turned back to Madam Pomfrey,

"So…what's their relationship anyways?" He decided to ask her, "Are they cousins or…long lost twins?"

"I'm…leaning more towards the later, actually." Pomfrey confessed.

James froze,

"What? Seriously?" he paled, then looked over at McGonagall, "Okay, you got me. You got me good. This is payback for all those pranks I pulled, isn't it? Who is he really?"  
"According to his blood and magic," Madam Pomfrey lifted the parchment, "He is the youngest descendent of the main Potter family branch. The only thing that makes sense is that he's your younger twin or…"  
"No." James said firmly, "Dad would never…"

He would never be with another woman. James refused to believe it.  
"No, he wouldn't." Madam Pomfrey placated him, then turned to the transfiguration professor, "Minerva, if you would?"  
"I'll contact the Potters." She agreed, moving over to the floo in Pomfrey's office.

"This is insane!" James protested, but it came out weaker than he'd intended. He was still convinced this was some sort of prank.

"Oh boy." Harry murmured, "There is another possibility."

"What?" James looked up at Harry warily.

"I'm really your son from the future." Harry said seriously.

James stared at him a long time,

"Could you be even a little serious? You could be my brother!"  
"First off," Harry said, "That guy," he pointed to Sirius, "Is Sirius. Secondly…alright, I don't actually have a secondly. I just saw a joke and I went with it."

"That joke is old." Sirius said.

"And I'm sure you've been doing your best to let it die." Harry said sarcastically.

"Point." Sirius shrugged, then looked over at James, "Face it. You're related."  
Hey, he'd tried to tell them the truth, Harry thought, it wasn't his fault that they didn't believe him. Well…they would later…probably.

It was then that two familiar people came walking into the room. Harry stared at the older man. He looked a lot like him and his father…although his dad didn't have the same knobbly knees they both did.

"I'm sorry." The man said and Harry realized, he didn't even know his own grandfather's name. How lame was that? "What's this about me having another son?"

His wife was looking uncertain, conflicted even.

Madam Pomfrey handed him the parchment she'd been holding onto and had shown them earlier.

The man, Harry's grandfather looked at it with wide eyes,

"But that's…that's not possible. We only had James."

"You know how this works." Madam Pomfrey said, "It tells the line of descent. According to this, Harry Potter is the youngest descendent of the main Potter family branch. That means, he's yours."  
The man and his wife looked up at Harry, then back over at Pomfrey with confusion,

"He?"

James got up from his bed and took Harry's wig off,

"He." James repeated dryly, "Seriously."  
"They look like twins." The woman Harry assumed was his grandmother said with pure astonishment.

"Euphemia, he must be yours." McGonagall looked over at the woman, and now Harry had a name to work with. "Your family name is on the paper too. See?" She showed her the paper.

"Or," Harry said, capturing their attention, "I'm James's son from the future."  
"Now's not the time to joke." James hissed.

He wasn't joking, but he would like it to be planted into their skulls already. Harry let out a sigh,

"I guess I'm not going to Akihabara, then." Harry muttered under his breath.

"Son," Harry's grandfather spoke to James severely, "This isn't one of your jokes, is it? Because if it is…"  
"Not one of mine!" James shook his head, "I wouldn't…I mean, I thought it was a prank! How am I supposed to react to…this?" he gestured to Harry, "And…crossdressing brother? Even I have to admit, that's a bit much for me."  
Seeing the fact that his son was genuinely freaking out and just as confused as he was, Harry's grandfather seemed to acknowledge him at last.

"And…you crashed into James, is that right?"

Harry winced in sympathy. The man looked like he might have a heart attack.

"Well…I thought I was heading to Akihabara…but the magic taking me there was somehow disrupted. I don't know how." Harry half-lied. He really had thought that going to Akihabara was his wish…but his wish to see his family, well, that was something that he had to admit, surpassed Akihabara by far.

He really wanted to get to know his dad and his mum. He wanted to know his grandparents too. What had even happened to them? Harry wondered for the first time. He knew he hadn't had any family in his own time, so they must have died sometime before the night his own parents were killed.

His grandfather paused,

"If I may so inquire…why are you dressed as a girl?"

"I was crossplaying." Harry answered easily.  
"Cross…" he was obviously unfamiliar with the term.

"It's like cosplaying." Harry said, "But as a character of the opposite gender. Crossplaying. I've been told I'm a bishonen, so I can get away with that stuff."  
He was met with blank looks.

"I'm pretty sure you're speaking English." James said slowly, "But no one knows what you're saying."

Harry let out a sigh,

"Well…it's something muggles do, I guess? It's kind of a subculture." He said thinking that in this time anime wasn't nearly as popular yet, "You dress up as your favourite character from a manga and or anime, of comic book or videogame. That's cosplay. Sometimes there's huge gatherings of people doing that stuff. Usually at conventions or…well, there's actually a big city that's devoted to this. It's called Akihabara."  
"In other words," Sirius interrupted, "It's a hobby."  
"Pretty much." Harry relented. Although he liked his explanation more. "My friend introduced it to me a few years back after I broke up with my girlfriend. She said she thought I'd look good as a girl. I _do_ have the legs for it."

"Oh, dear Merlin." James groaned.

"By the way, you didn't happen to see a trunk fall from the sky with me by chance, did you?" Harry looked over at McGonagall.

"We did." She said, "I assumed it was yours. It landed not far away. It nearly fell in the lake."  
Harry let out a sigh of relief,

"Safe then. My whole life is in that trunk, you know?" He actually did have a bag in there with a substantial amount of coins…he realized he may well be relying on that for food and other such things from now on.

"I don't understand how we could have another son." His grandfather said puzzledly, "It doesn't make sense…But you're definitely a Potter. Same hair as me and James. Your face even looks like ours…"  
"He's got a small nose though." Euphemia said, looking Harry's face over, "And his eyes…I wonder where the color comes from. I've never seen eyes like those before. They're beautiful. Did you use a color changing charm on your eyes dear?"

"No." Harry said, "I am wearing contacts though. I normally wear glasses."

"Ah, the muggle lenses." Euphemia seemed to be familiar with them, "I've heard of those. Just to correct your vision? Or…"  
"Just for my vision." Harry said, "My eyes are green naturally."

Euphemia hummed thoughtfully, then gave a small nod,

"What did you say your name was?"  
"Harry." Harry introduced himself, "Harry Potter. That's the name I've gone by my whole life."  
"That's my dad's name." Harry's grandfather offered, "Or, it's his nickname anyways. Interesting to have another Harry…"  
"I'm Euphemia." Euphemia introduced, "And this is my husband, Fleamont. Is anyone taking care of you, Harry?"  
"Mum?" James looked worried, "You aren't going to…"  
"How about you live with us?" she offered.

"Uh…really?" Harry asked, a little surprised. Just like that? They wanted him to live with them…just like that?  
James was looking uncertain, however.

"Well, tests like those don't lie." Euphemia said, looking over at the paper in Pomfrey's hand knowingly, then back at Harry, "You're ours. Somehow, you're ours and we'd be delighted to take you in, Harry."

"I might not be." Harry said, "I still don't believe it…but…I don't really have anywhere to stay, so, if you're willing to have me, I'd be grateful." He wanted to at least let them know where he stood on this at the moment, and he did want to tell them the truth. But not in front of everyone else. Not yet.

As much as he hated to admit it, his father was a teenager and Harry wasn't so sure he'd be willing to accept the fact that he had a son, let alone that he had died when Harry had only been one year old.

He had died young, Harry thought with a small wince. When he'd been twenty-one…only a couple years older than Harry was and not much older than he currently was now.

Could he change that? Harry wondered. Part of him said no, but another part of him said yes.

This wasn't the regular sort of time travel. Even if it was, Harry didn't really know the rules anyways.

Euphemia nodded sympathetically,

"Of course, dear. I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me a bit about your schooling? Have you had a magical education?"  
"Sort of." Harry said, "I'm more self taught." Not entirely a lie.

During his time at Hogwarts, only some of the teachers had actually taught anything. Defense had been the worst in that regard, despite it being his best subject.

"But I did have some teachers along the way."  
"Do you have a wand?" Fleamont asked Harry with concern.

"Yup." Harry lifted his skirt, revealing a strap on his thigh.

He took his wand out.

"Is that blood?" Euphemia looked alarmed.

Surely enough, there was blood on his wand, soaked through the wood. Harry never had been able to get it out.

"Well, maybe a bit." Harry said, "I mean, it's mostly mine. I tried to get it out, but…well, it doesn't really matter." He shrugged.

Fleamont shook his head,

"Alright…how about you show us a few spells then? How about your favourite?"

Harry thought on this. What was something entertaining? A smile grew on his face and he straightened a little. This was his first time seeing his family, you couldn't really blame him for wanting to show off a little.

"Expecto patronum."  
A glowing stag leaped out of his wand and started prancing around the room.

It wasn't a spell any of them were expecting.

"A corporeal patronus." Fleamont murmured.

"Very impressive." McGonagall commented, then looked over at Harry curiously, "Where did you learn to cast a patronus?"  
Harry's lips twitched,

"I actually had a really good teacher for that. He was…a bit of a wandering wizard like me. I only got about a year's worth of lessons from him. He was a werewolf, so he didn't have a lot of opportunities. I was lucky he even bothered teaching me. He had to fend for himself so that fact that he actually took the time to help was…well, you know, it kind of renews your faith in humanity." That wasn't a complete lie. Remus had been the first adult to really care for Harry's happiness. Him and Sirius. "He taught me how to defend myself. How to keep myself safe."  
"How old were you?" Fleamont asked, and Harry could tell he was genuinely interested in the story.

"Thirteen." Harry smiled, "And he was the best teacher I ever had."

He didn't know if by this point James knew Remus's secret or not. Probably. Harry hadn't gone even a year without figuring it out. Or at least, without Hermione figuring it out. Still, Remus couldn't hide it for that long from his closest friends. They would notice something was up.

But maybe this way, James and Sirius would be more willing to be open with Harry about their friend's secret. Or, at the very least, they'd be able to convince Remus that he was alright.

He really missed Remus…Sirius too.

Harry's eyes wandered over to Sirius himself. He was a teenager. A silly, immature teenager. He hadn't seen the inside of Azkaban yet. He didn't know those horrors.

He was so carefree…Harry wondered if he could stop it from happening. His incarceration, his framing, every bad thing that was going to happen to him.

And his father…the war, the murder. It hurt to think about it. It hurt to think that in a few years, the nightmare would begin all over again.

He felt his stomach sink. He wanted to go back. He wanted to go home.

Could he go home?

He'd been thinking along the lines that this, all of this was all set. That he was stuck here. But Death brought him here and Death had called him master.

Maybe…maybe he could call him somehow?

"You managed a patronus at thirteen?" Fleamont repeated.

Harry nodded, snapping from his thoughts.

"And it was corporeal then?" he pressed.

Harry nodded again, thinking back to his trial and how his grandfather's reaction was very similar to Madam Bones's.

"Yeah. It's a stag. Always a stag."  
James was staring at Harry, as though the realization that this really wasn't a prank was slowly dawning on him.

"You really are a Potter." Fleamont murmured, then, a little louder, "You're welcome to stay with us, Harry." He looked over at McGonagall, "Could we maybe…enroll him here?"  
"Here?" Harry repeated, "You want me to attend school?"  
"Of course!" Fleamont said, "I mean…it's a bit of a shock…don't you want to attend school?"  
"I do." Harry nodded his head, "I mean…I think I do. But…isn't it expensive? I mean, this place is a castle!"  
"Not really." Fleamont said quickly, "It isn't a burden on us. The costs here aren't a lot, mostly just for food and such."  
Harry was suspicious about that. He knew his grandfather was lying. Certainly, the cost off food was a lot, but the schooling costs on top of that…

He bit his lower lip and shifted on the spot,

"I…don't know if I can accept that." He admitted honestly, "It's too much. Too soon."  
Fleamont and his wife exchanged looks.

"Maybe it would be a bit much for you." Euphemia said, starting to understand a little, "I'm sure we can work something out…maybe we could homeschool you? Or…" She looked at McGonagall uncertainly.

"Mister Potter," the deputy headmistress cleared her throat, drawing his attention, "We do have a fund for orphans…"  
"But, that doesn't really seem right either." Harry shook his head, "I mean, other people need that more than me. Especially when, um, can I call you Euphemia and Fleamont?" He asked his grandparents awkwardly.

The two of them nodded.

"Of course, dear." Euphemia said agreeably.

"Especially when Euphemia and Fleamont are willing to fund me." Harry finished his sentence. He shifted a bit on the spot, "I…have some money. Some stuff I saved up…I don't spend money much. I mean, just on food and clothes…and I work lots…I was taken care of by a nice couple for a few years and they left me money. I dip into it when there's an emergency. If…it's okay with you, could I use it to pay for this year? I don't know if it's enough…but if I pay for a bit then I won't feel as guilty, if that would be alright?" He looked up at the couple with a bashful smile on his face.

"Of course." Euphemia agreed automatically, "If that makes you feel comfortable, then by all means."  
Harry relaxed a bit and nodded his head.

He could live with that. He knew that technically, the money would be his eventually, if he went down the line. But he never had felt any good about accepting charity. It was something he and Ron had in common.


	3. Chapter 3

**This particular story seems to be the most popular. It's interesting how people seem to like my older work, but they don't seem to like the newer stuff.**

**I suppose I have to post more in order to study this phenomenon further.**

**Once again, I do not own Harry Potter.**

James and Sirius both stared at Harry as he set his trunk down in the Gryffindor dorms.

"What?" Harry asked, looking over at them.

"Are you ever going to change into some normal clothes?" James finally blurted, his face reddening a bit.

Harry understood the issue immediately. He was embarrassed.

He felt a little weird about that. James was his father…but he wasn't really his father yet…and Harry was technically older than him, so…

"You could join me if you'd like." Harry smirked.

"No." James said bluntly.

"Too bad." He smirked.

"Can't you wear men's clothes?" James looked horrified as he realized his friends really would be there soon.

"I still haven't met all of your friends yet, big brother." He gave James a wink.

James turned positively green and Sirius covered his mouth trying not to laugh,

"Alright, alright." Harry laughed, "Wouldn't want your friends falling for me, would we?"

Harry changed clothes into a nice pair of black cargo pants, a t-shirt and hoodie. He ran a hand through his messy, black hair. Wearing wigs could be fun at times, but once they were off, his head felt so free…

"Better?" He smiled over at his father.

"Yeah…" James relaxed a bit. He was looking at Harry strangely, "Why do you wear women's clothing anyways? Are you, uh…"  
Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Do you…like blokes?"  
"I swing both ways." Harry said airily, taking no offence to the question, "I don't think crossdressing has anything to do with sexual preferences though. It's just fun to dress as a girl sometimes. I only do it for conventions, of course."

James looked shocked, but he was still looking at Harry with a strange look on his face.

"So…do you like quidditch?"  
Harry smiled. It seemed James wanted to know more about him. It was understandable. He thought he had just found a brother. A twin.

"Love it. I like playing seeker best. I'm pretty good at it. What about you? You were playing when I fell from the sky, right? I'm guessing…chaser?"

James nodded, relaxing a bit. Harry was an easy person to talk to. He was honest, polite, open and he had a sense about him that made people aware that he wouldn't judge them.

"Yeah. Sirius just made the team so I was helping him. He's a keeper."  
"Really?" Harry looked over at Sirius.

That was something he hadn't known about his godfather. That he had played quidditch in school with his father.

"Yeah." Sirius said with an awkward smile, still thrown by the fact that Harry was…well, related to his best mate. "I just made the team this year. James has been on it since he was a second year though."  
Harry smiled a bit at that. That was…really cool. He hadn't known when his dad had started playing quidditch either.

Soon they could hear the sound of people coming upstairs.

Harry immediately recognised who it was. He would know Remus anywhere. He would also know Peter Pettigrew anywhere.

Remus paused a moment, eyes falling on Harry, then traveling over to James.

"You made your own clone?"

James snorted,

"I'm much better looking."

Remus looked back over at Harry and smiled in a friendly way. He seemed kind, Harry thought, although he always had. But with Remus it was something a little more. He was more…approachable than the other Marauders.

"We think…he might be my brother." James finally admitted, "I mean…he took this medical, blood test thing and my parents saw and they started acting all weird about it and…yeah." He finished lamely, "So…he's going to live with me from now on…I guess."  
Remus looked over at Sirius,

"Is this…"  
"It's not a prank." Sirius shook his head, "Or if it is, then James and I aren't in on it."

"No one's explored the possibility that I'm James's son from the future." Harry sat down on James's bed and leaned back a little.

He didn't even get any acknowledgement for that.

Apparently, the truth was so absurd that even the possibility was dismissed. Harry wondered if he really ought to be testing it.

"I'm Remus." Remus introduced himself to Harry.

"Harry." Harry returned his smile.

"So, you were sorted into Gryffindor too?" Remus asked, figuring he could just be visiting James.

"Yup." Harry said.

"He took a long time." James commented.

"I was making friends." Harry said casually, "It's not often you come across a talking hat…at least,_ I_ don't come across them all that often."  
Of course, that part was a lie. It was the same old argument about whether he ought to go to Slytherin or Gryffindor. He'd been more adamant than ever that he go to Gryffindor this time. The hat had been more inclined to agree.

He had fought a war after all.

And although Harry had no doubt he was a true Gryffindor, the idea of going somewhere where his parents might be disappointed in him…well, it made him feel weird.

Strange…it had been a long time since he cared for the opinion of anyone else other than himself…and maybe Luna.

"You must be fraternal twins." Remus spoke again.

"Fraternal?" James repeated.

"You aren't identical." Remus said, "You look similar, but you aren't identical. I mean…Harry's eyes are green and his face is different. I mean, when you first look at him, he looks a lot like you, but his face is shaped differently. His nose is smaller, his lips are a bit…bigger. And his chin is pointy."

"Same hair though." Peter commented, then smiled over at Harry, "I'm Peter." He introduced.

"Nice to meet you." _Not really_, Harry thought.

He'd have to keep on eye on Pettigrew. When had he changed sides? Harry wondered. He seemed so…innocent. That was something he hadn't thought he'd ever describe Pettigrew as.

"So…you four are close friends?" Harry asked them curiously. He knew the story already.

"Yup. Since we were eleven." James said, deciding he ought to be the one to answer.

"Cool. You're one short though if you ever want to crossplay as a mahou Shoujo team."

"Huh?" Remus paused, pretty sure that at least…most of those words had been in English.

"Ignore him." James shot Harry a look, and Harry sent him a smirk before settling back onto James's bed, "Are you going to let me have my bed?" he raised an eyebrow at Harry.

He looked annoyed, Harry observed.

He sat back up.

"I just thought I'd get to know you…I didn't even expect I'd attend school at all. How could I have even known that I was going to fall from the sky today and meet family and…well, it's just a bit unbelievable, I guess." He paused, looking at his teenage father, "You're angry."  
James scowled,

"You're not my brother. I don't know who you are…"  
"And what about me?" Harry narrowed his eyes at him, "It's not like I know what the hell's going on. But I want to be here. I'm…curious. I grew up an orphan and I think I just found family. Do you know how much I wanted that? All my life…" Harry bit his lower lip, "You don't get it. You don't understand what it's like to hope that someday…that someday someone will come for you and take you away. I thought I forgot about it, you know? That it didn't really matter anymore. I'm not just…some dirty kid anymore. I'm not supposed to want a mum and dad…"  
James flinched a bit and for a moment, a look of sympathy crossed his features. Now it was Harry's turn to scowl,

"Don't look at me like that. I don't need pity. It's life. Sometimes you draw a crappy hand. All you need to do is make the best of what you've got. Goodnight." Harry started walking off towards where his bed was, "Nice meeting you, Sirius, Remus, Peter." He tried not to sound angry as he said Peter's name.

"Nice meeting you." Remus said a little softer than intended.

After Harry closed the curtains, he could hear the four of them whispering. He caught his name a few times during their conversation.

_Of course, they'd be talking about me,_ Harry thought tiredly. He didn't really care anymore. The last half a day had been a bit emotional and he'd found himself completely drained.

His father…he'd gotten to meet his father or all people.

He thought back to Snape's memories of the man, of some of the more negative things he'd heard about him.

Harry drew a deep breath, then took out his wand. He cast a curse at the curtains. Anyone who tried to enter would get a very unpleasant surprise.

Harry closed his eyes and fell back onto his head. He fell asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

Harry woke up the next morning feeling slightly confused. Although the Gryffindors dorms were familiar to him, it had been a while since his graduation. Then he remembered the events from the day before.

He looked down at himself. His body was definitely younger than from before. He looked like he was fifteen again.

Only yesterday morning had he been twenty-one…

He got up and saw his curtains spark. He took out his wand, recalling the spell he'd cast on them the day before and quickly undid it.

He changed into his Hogwarts robes wondering what it would be like to attend school again.

"Master…"  
Harry tensed, then turned around to see Death. He blinked a few times as though hardly believing it.

"You…" Harry whispered, "Why…" No, he thought, that was the wrong question. He quickly rephrased it. With how slow Death talked, he didn't have the patience to wait for a redundant answer.

"Can I go back?" He asked Death instead.

"You…only…get…one…wish." Death said in his slow, cold voice.

So, that was a no, then?

"But, I must be changing things." Harry said worriedly, "I must be. The future…is there even a future anymore?"  
Death shook his…or her? Or…their? Head.

"This…is…the…present…you…are…a…part…of…events…now…You…no…longer…exist…as…a…human."  
"What do you mean, I no longer exist as a human?" Harry's eyes widened. What did Death mean?  
"You…are…my…master…you…have…taken…on…a…god…you…have…won…You…are…a…god…slayer…"  
"But," Harry said slowly, though not as slowly as Death. No one he knew talked as slowly as Death did, "I didn't kill…"  
"You…Did." Death said shortly, "You…do…not…remember…When…you…had…all…three…hallows…You…were…confronted…by…Him…"

"Him?" Harry pressed, wondering if this was all just some sort of trippy dream he was having. That seemed like a very logical conclusion.

"Alzeal." Death answered him, "God…of…storms…"

"Harry?"

Harry's conversation was interrupted by Remus's voice,

"Are you alright in there?"  
"Yup." Harry said, then turned back to Death only to find that the entity had vanished. Letting out a sigh, he exited his section. His eyebrows rose when he saw James sporting an afro. His hair was frizzy and Harry knew then,

"You tried to haze me, didn't you?"

James's face reddened. He looked angry…

Harry rolled his eyes,

"I'm a street rat, remember? It's normal for me to put up protections when I sleep." He paused, "You'd have more luck getting to me when I'm awake. I'm a light sleeper and I don't react well when I'm woken up by someone I think is attacking me." Harry shot James an uncertain look, "Please just do it when I'm not sleeping. It's less likely I'll hurt you if I'm awake and more aware of my surroundings."  
James's face turned red.

Obviously, Harry had not managed to placate him. He gave a small stretch, then rummaged through his trunk and pulled some things out.

"We're going downstairs." Remus said, "You want to join us?"  
"I'll be down in a bit." Harry said, "I want to fix up my hair. First impressions are very important. Besides, I don't want people mistaking me for James, that would be a hassle."

Sirius gave Harry a strange look,

"What are you going to do?"

"Dye my hair." Harry said simply, "You can join me if you want. I think I'll go with green. Brings out my eyes. Aside from that, I have blue, red, and purple with me right now."  
"Hair dye?" Sirius repeated, never having heard of it before.

"It's a muggle thing." Harry said, "They like to make their hair certain colors. It's a way of expressing yourself, you know?" He looked over at Sirius, "You've got long hair. It's nice too. I think if I were to chose, I'd do your tips blue. Like, electric blue."

"We've got color changing charms for that." Sirius waved away, not seeing the point.

Harry shrugged,

"Suit yourself." He took a towel out of his bag and started getting the dye ready.

This was a special hair dye that didn't use bleach and it was pretty quick too. He made his way to the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

**Really, really don't own Harry Potter. Not even a little bit.**

**Reading over this story again…Harry is very OP. Why must all versions of Harry Potter be OP or utterly, and completely emotionally broken?**

**Maybe I should try a reverse trope fic? Like, take ever trope I can find and just do the opposite?**

**I've been reading some of the old marriage law fics and some of them leave a bad taste in my mouth. Like…so, they fall in love with the person the ministry told them to be with and just…accept it? Like…even when they were in love with someone else? Where's the fight for love? Rather than marrying anyone, fight to be with the person you want to be with!**

**What if they got into an arranged marriage and Harry finds out his new wife is a lesbian? Obviously, that's not going to work.**

**I'm getting worked up over something not even relevant to the story again, aren't I?**

**Let's just get on with the story…**

Harry had about thirty minutes to eat breakfast after he had finished dying his hair. He made his way down to the great hall and started eating.

"Mister Potter."

Harry looked up as McGonagall approached him. She handed him a sheet of parchment.

"Here is your schedule."  
"Thanks." Harry smiled at him genuinely. He rather hoped he could tear away from James's reputation.

He'd had some trouble with that even in his time, but the professors had soon come to realize that he really didn't enjoy pranking and wasn't purposefully going to cause them any trouble.

Harry looked over his schedule and Sirius took a peek over his shoulder.

"Care of Magical Creatures and Arythmancy." He observed.

"No options with me then." Sirius said.

"What are you taking?" Harry asked him, he hadn't known his godfather's options while he'd been in school.

"Muggle Studies and Divination." He grinned, "The very subjects that make my dearest mum tick."  
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. That in the very least had been expected.

"What about you?" He turned to his father.

"Same as Sirius." James said absently.

Here Harry had thought the Marauders had put more effort into his studies than he had. Clearly, he'd been wrong.

"We've got the same classes." Remus offered with a slight smile.

"Well, at least I'll know someone." Harry returned the smile, "There a reason you're interested in Arythmancy?"

"Well, I just find it fascinating, I suppose."

He sounded like Hermione, Harry thought. Wasn't that a weird comparison?

"Remus is all brainy like that." Sirius smiled knowingly, "He's taking three options. Runes, Arythmancy and Care."  
Yup, just like Hermione, Harry thought. He wondered if Sirius would end up being like Ron.

Did that mean he was like his father?

Harry looked over at James who had thought it would be fun to stuff as many fruit pieces into his mouth as possible.

If this had been an anime, Harry would have sweat dropped. Maybe not.

"I'm sorry, Potter?"

Harry looked up and his breath nearly hitched. It was…his mother. But a younger version, obviously.

"Um, yes." He said uncertainly, "I'm Harry. Harry Potter. James's…relative." He really didn't want to fully lie about their relationship. Especially with Lily.

"They're twins." Sirius added in, in a way he thought was helpful.

Lily scrunched his nose, but the look of disdain soon vanished.

"Twins?" She looked down at Harry and their eyes met. Green eyes met green. Harry wondered if maybe she would notice.

"We don't know that for sure." Harry said hastily, "We just know we're related…James's parents sent me here when they found out about me."

"You look like you could be twins." Lily agreed, "Well, except…" She paused, looking back at Harry's face.

Harry decided to change the subject,

"You haven't introduced yourself yet. What's your name?"

Lily flushed, embarrassed by the oversight,

"Lily. Lily Evens. I'm the fifth-year prefect."  
"A prefect." Harry hadn't known his mother had been a prefect… "That's pretty cool. You must get really good grades then." He looked over at Remus, "Are you the other prefect?"  
"Yeah." Remus smiled slightly, "How'd you guess?"  
"Well," Harry said, "Sirius did just say you were 'all brainy like that.' That clued me in."  
Remus chuckled, while Lily shot James a look, as though he'd done something wrong.

"I swear to Merlin, Potter, if this is some sort of prank…"  
"Not one I'm in on!" James protested.

Lily searched his face, before looking back at Harry,

"So, this is your first day at Hogwarts, then?"

Harry nodded, he had a weird feeling that she was fishing for something.

"What are those?" Lily furrowed her brow, looking at the headphones Harry had around his neck. There were points on the top that looked like cat ears, but with speakers inside of them.

"Cat-ear headphones." Harry answered easily.

This gave pretty much everyone in the group, and Lily some pause.

"Cat-ear headphones?" Lily repeated slowly.

"Yeah." Harry said, "Basically, you can listen to your music privately, or share them through the speakers on top."  
Lily gave him a weird look,

"You do know muggle devices don't work in the wizarding world, right?"

Harry pretended to look confused,

"Who told you that?"

"Wait." James interrupted, "You mean…they do work?"

Harry nodded,

"I can show you." He put the headphones on over his ears and they lit up as he turned them on and started searching for a song. He turned on the music and switched the headphones over to speaker.

"How is it doing that?" Lily wanted to know.

Harry uncovered his ears and turned the device off,

"It's just muggle technology." Although, certainly advanced technology for the seventies.

Harry's demonstration had started drawing attention as the other Gryffindors started swarming him, asking him questions. Harry smiled shyly. He didn't like a lot of attention. He'd never really liked it. But he did answer to the best of his ability.

It was good to ask questions. Asking questions kept people alive.

Classes began shortly after and Harry followed James to class. Lily went on ahead before them. Harry could tell that his mother was very serious about school, while his father…well, he seemed fine with taking it easy.

Harry had to admit that he was finding it harder and harder to picture the two of them getting together.

James sighed during class and made googly eyes at Lily.

Harry looked away. For some reason, he had a weird feeling he shouldn't be seeing this.

During transfiguration class, Harry wrote out a few things. He already knew what McGonagall was talking about, so he started coming up with a magical theory.

Death had sent him back in time to meet his parents. His deepest wish must have been to meet them and the only way to do that (without reviving them) would be to send Harry back in time.

But, because of the anomaly this caused, the future no longer existed. Harry's presence had changed too much.

Normally, the department of mysteries would adjust this particular error, in other words, destroy the anomaly when it arrived in the past and no one would be any the wiser. But, this wasn't wizarding magic. This was…something else. Something that couldn't be traces and therefore, could not be destroyed.

Harry himself was an anomaly and the future…didn't exist. Not yet, anyways. Or maybe never.

The entire future he'd lived…it had become nothing more than a possibility. He was a possibility. He was the possible son of James Potter and Lily Evens. This time around, they might not even have a baby boy named Harry. They might have a different child.

In which case, he really couldn't go back.

Harry's heart beat hard like a drum. So then…what was sustaining his existence? Death? His status as the Master of Death?

There was another type of magic at work here and Harry didn't know how long it would last.

But, Harry thought, if his existence faded, he'd be forgotten and everything would return to normal. Therefore, his existence had to be sustained.

A paradox.

He was a walking paradox.

Harry crumpled up the sheet of parchment and let out a sigh. This was getting him nowhere.

"Mister Potter?"  
Both Harry and James looked up.

"Harry Potter." McGonagall corrected, "Are you keeping up?"  
"Yes, ma'am." Harry said, then looked down at the dinner plate in front of him. He was supposed to turn it into a mushroom. He said the incantation and waved his wand. In an instant, the dinner plate had changed.

McGonagall's eyebrows rose,

"Take ten points to Gryffindor. It seems you and your brother share a talent in Transfiguration."  
Harry's face reddened slightly. His eyes traveled over to James. It felt nice to be compared to him in this instance…but James didn't seem all that happy about it.

Harry supposed that maybe it was because he'd stolen his thunder. Harry couldn't say he wasn't disappointed that he and his father wouldn't have gotten along as teenagers.

Well, technically, Harry wasn't a teenager anymore…but he hadn't changed that radically since Hogwarts.

After Transfiguration, Harry decided that the best thing to do after that was fade into the background.

He wasn't supposed to exist anyways.

Harry was sitting in the library at a table by the window. It was the spot him, Hermione and Ron used to study at all the time. As time passed, he had started growing more and more homesick.

"Longing for a place that doesn't exist." He whispered.

"Hey…" Harry felt someone tap his shoulder.

He took off his headphones to see Lily Evens, his mother. Harry gave her a small smile,

"Hey." He greeted her.

The two hadn't talked all that much. Actually, Harry hadn't talked to anyone much.

"Could I sit with you?" She asked him.

"Go ahead." Harry gestured invitingly.

Lily smiled and took a seat beside him.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Harry asked her.

"Well…" Lily began, "I guess I was just a bit…concerned."  
"Concerned?" Harry looked a bit surprised.

"Well, you don't really talk to a lot of people." She said, "And I've noticed James hasn't been the most hospitable. You do really well in classes, but ever since your first day here, it's like you've been going out of your way not to stand out."  
She was sharper than he gave her credit for.

"I'm just settling in." Harry said, "I think I was stepping on James's toes for a bit. I didn't mean to, but…what can you do?"

Lily frowned,

"Don't hold yourself back on James Potter's account."

"You seem to hold a lot of animosity towards him." Harry observed, once again wondering how his mother and father had wound up together.

"Sorry." Lily said, though her shoulders were still tensed, "I guess it's just my personal experience. He keeps asking me out on dates. Fact is, the only reason he wants me is because I turn him down. I just don't get why the other girls think he's so amazing."

Harry shrugged, he didn't know if he was supposed to answer that question or not.

"He also doesn't really…I mean, he sometimes picks on people. He goes overboard sometimes." She tried again.

Harry could tell she was trying really hard not to talk smack about him.

"I noticed that." Harry offered, "He pranked some of the first years. Smoked their dorms and made it so they wouldn't stop crying blue. Even after the whole thing they were still crying."

He hated to see his father do things like that. But he had to face it. James Potter was a bully. At least, at this point in time he was.

He'd gotten detention for that stunt. Him and Sirius.

Harry couldn't see what had been funny about that. It was just mean spirited. He'd felt disappointed in both his dad and in Sirius.

"But…I think there is some good in them." He furrowed his brow, thinking back to how his father had tried buying him and his mother time to escape and sacrificed his life in turn. He thought back to his godfather escaping Azkaban prison, becoming the first man to do so just to save him when he thought Harry was in danger.

Lily was silent. Clearly, she didn't want to get into an argument over the whole thing.

Harry didn't think he wanted to get into it either.  
Despite the horrible way James had acted since Harry had arrived in this time, he still loved him. He was his dad.

Albeit an immature, younger version of him.

He still loved him. And something had happened that had changed his mother's mind about him too.

"I'm going to Hogsmeade this weekend." Lily said, "You can come with me if you want. We can go together. As friends, of course."  
She was inviting him? Harry wondered.

"I'd love to." Harry agreed without really thinking.

He wanted to spend more time with her. Out of the two of his parents, his mother was more inviting and also, more mature and a bit kinder than his father.

Lily nodded happily,

"Sounds good. I was thinking about heading out around two this Saturday. I'll meet you in the common room."

"Sounds like fun." Harry said.

"Have you been to Hogsmeade yet?"  
"A couple of times." Harry said, "But I'm not that familiar with it."  
That wasn't a lie. There were bound to be differences between the Hogsmeade of his time and the Hogsmeade of the seventies.

"I'm sure you'll be able to show me all the secret little stores that no one knows about." Harry said, a small mischievous glimmer in his eyes.

"I don't know about that…" Lily trailed off, "But I like to think I know it well enough. Severus probably knows the more out of the way places." She said this last part in an absent sort of way, like she couldn't help but think of something she hadn't quite formulated an opinion on yet.

Harry knew that Snape and his mother had been close friends. He had a feeling that Snape wanted something more, but his draw towards the dark arts had stopped that from happening.

"I think I saw the two of you hanging out before." He said, "The boy from Slytherin, right? I heard he's really good at potions. Are you two dating?"

He rather hoped not, but you never could tell.

"No." Lily shook her head, "Sev is just a friend. We grew up together."  
"I see." Harry nodded, trying to hide his relief.

"Just to be clear," Lily said, "I only want to go as friends."  
Harry suddenly realized what he'd inquired may have been misinterpreted.

"Don't worry. I'm not interested."  
Lily looked a bit surprised.

"I mean," Harry said quickly, "You look a lot like…someone I knew. There was this woman, I used to think of her as a mum. Anyways, she looked almost exactly like you. It would be too weird. Besides, with everything happening, I really don't want to date anyone."  
Ugh, he felt a bit queasy after that.

"Good." Lily nodded, then smiled, "So, what are you working on, anyways? Arythmancy?"  
"Yeah." Harry said, "It's kind of my worst subject."

He'd studied it a bit after school, but only just enough to keep up with the fifth years currently.

"It's one of my better subjects if you'd like some help." She offered.

"I'd like that." Harry relaxed a bit as Lily started explaining some of the problems Harry found the most difficult.

Harry listened to her intensely.

He was really interested in learning arythmancy. And he really wanted to learn it from his mother who seemed to really like the subject.

If he'd known his mother had liked it this much while he had first been in school, he would have wanted to take it, hoping it would bring them closer.

Maybe he couldn't have a great relationship with his father yet. But he could work on his relationship with his mother.


	5. Chapter 5

**So, yeah…James is a bit of a jerk. But he is a confused teenager who just found out he has a brother so…what can you do?**

**I do not own Harry Potter**

"So," James Potter looked at Harry angrily as he entered the boy's dorms, "I heard Lily and you are going to Hogsmeade together."  
"Um…yeah?" Harry said uncertainly. It hadn't occurred to him until then that James might be jealous.

Oh brother.

"You know James likes her." Sirius frowned, approaching James from behind and trying his best to be supportive.

"We aren't going on a date." Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm not interested in Lily. She's just showing me around Hogsmeade. I don't know the place all that well and she offered. She's a nice person."  
"Why aren't you interested?" James's eyes narrowed at him suspiciously.

Boy, he just couldn't win, could he?

Harry let out a sigh,

"Well, for starters, I had someone I loved like a mother before and she looked scary similar to Lily. They even act alike and…that's just wrong. It's gross. How would you like dating a younger version of your mother?"  
James looked surprised,

"Oh." He said.

"Besides," Harry said, "With all the crap going on in my life right now and finding out I actually have a family that's still alive, romance is the last thing on my mind. I'd rather sort that out first before I think about relationships and stuff. You've literally got nothing to worry about. Aside from that, I wouldn't be surprised if she asked some of her friends to tag along later, so it might not even be just us."

He still didn't look convinced. In fact, Harry had a feeling his suspicions had returned for some reason…

"Swear you aren't interested." James demanded.

"I swear." Harry said, "Now, move out of the way. I want to read some manga."

"Some what?" James looked confused as Harry moved towards his bed and disappeared behind the curtains.

"What does he do in there anyways?" Sirius wondered, "He's always disappearing there…"  
"Why don't you find out?" Peter asked him.

"Are you kidding? We all saw what happened to James. I don't want to get electrocuted." Sirius shook his head.

They heard Harry humming to an unfamiliar song.

Remus approached the curtains, then paused a moment before touching the curtains experimentally. When they didn't electrocute him, he pulled them aside.

Harry was flipping through a book, backwards. He was laying on his stomach, his legs swinging in the air and his headphones over his ears, obviously listening to a song.

"Well…that solves that." Remus said, then closed the curtains.

They still had no idea what manga was.

Harry's eyes traveled over to James momentarily before the curtains closed. He had a feeling this wasn't over.

Over the next couple of days, Harry could hear the marauders whispering and scheming…something.

He wondered if he, Ron and Hermione had been that obvious.

As reluctant as he was to admit it…probably.

Harry ignored them but stayed semi-alert as he headed downstairs to the common room to meet Lily. He was happy to say that he'd actually managed to develop a true friendship with her. In fact, it was almost weird how the two of them seemed to get along. They were scary similar in many ways, even having the same taste in deserts as they both always made a grab for the tray of treacle tart whenever it was available.

They'd even started up something of a competition to see who could get to it first.

This, of course, didn't go unnoticed by James, who seemed convinced that the two of them were falling in love.

Ew, was all Harry could think on the matter.

"So," Lily said as they met up and started walking down to the Great Hall together, "I hope you don't mind, but another friend of mine is going to eat with us today. He's…not in Gryffindor."  
"That's fine. The more the merrier." Harry told her, honestly not minding.

Lily nodded, smiling at him. It looked like she hadn't been worried about Harry minding that they were having some company, but she had been worried he'd mind that whoever was joining them wasn't from Gryffindor.

Which was silly.

"We're still on for Hogsmeade, right?" Lily asked him as they walked into the hall.

"You bet." Harry agreed, "Is there a good sweets store there?"  
"Yes, why?" Lily asked him.

Harry gave a sheepish shrug,

"I've got a sweet tooth. Do you think they make a treacle tart flavoured candy? That would be brilliant."  
Lily's lips twitched,

"It would. I haven't heard of anything like that before though."  
"If they don't have it then we should make it." Harry decided.

"Make it?" Lily repeated, "I can't say I'm all that good at cooking."  
"I am." Harry said, actually a little proud, "I think if we put our heads together we could come up with something. I'm thinking it would have to be a chewy candy. You know, something that keeps the texture of the treacle tart."  
"My sister is really good at stuff like that." Lily said out loud, "I was always jealous of that. She can make the most amazing things, just throwing stuff together."  
His Aunt Petunia really was good at cooking, Harry silently agreed. She'd been the one to teach Harry. Probably one of the few good things he'd learned from her, actually. That and Harry actually did seem to have gotten a bit of talent from somewhere.

He was actually a bit surprised that his mother wasn't good at cooking. If only for the fact that she was Petunia's sister.

"How about I teach you?" Harry decided in a spur of the moment decision, "I have some money still. We could buy some ingredients. You know, for something somewhat simple, then use the Hogwarts kitchens. Then, you can surprise your mum and dad when you get back."  
"Really?" Lily looked excited by the idea, "I'd love that! I always wanted to learn how to cook. What should we make? Could we do cookies?"  
"Sure, cookies sound great." Harry brightened, already a million recipes were running through his brain, "How about…chocolate chip?" he suggested.

Lily nodded eagerly. Just like her son, Lily Evens was a huge fan of chocolate.

They were soon at the doors of the great hall. Severus Snape was waiting by the doors.

_So, it was him she planned to eat with,_ Harry thought.

Snape's lips curled as he looked Harry over. He looked back over at Lily,  
"You're…friends with Potter now?"  
"_Harry_ Potter." She stressed Harry's first name, "And he's basically James Potter's complete opposite."

"Well, uh, I try to get along with James." Harry said, knowing that his mother's protests were making Snape like him even less, "But he can be a bit…well, he can take things a bit far." Harry finished off, "Anyways, we haven't met yet. I'm Harry. You're Severus, right? I've seen you in potions class. You're like…a billion years ahead of everyone else."

Harry figured a little bit of flattery couldn't hurt.

As it turned out, it didn't hurt…but it didn't help either. Snape only sniffed in response. Lily shot him a look.

Harry tilted his head to the side in thought. Maybe if he talked about crossdressing, he'd assume he was gay like James had…

"Levicorpus!" Two identical voices incanted.

Harry turned just in time to be hoisted up by his ankles. His face was unsurprised. In hindsight…he had sort of seen this one coming. Snape was suspended beside him, desperately trying to keep his robes down.

"What the – why are you wearing pants underneath your robes!?" Sirius shouted at Harry. Apparently, he was the one who was holding him up.

Harry shrugged, which looked rather strange in mid-air,

"I didn't want a pervert to blow up my robes and see my panties."

Sirius stared at him a while, then cracked a smile. Some of the surrounding students actually laughed a bit at Harry's joke…or maybe they were laughing at Snape who was struggling to tug down his robes and cover up his underwear. Harry saw this out of the corner of his eye. He looked back at Sirius,

"If you were that desperate to see them, I can take my pants off…but only if we go somewhere private." He said in a low voice.

Sirius's face reddened considerably as Harry gave him a wink. He then looked over at his father who was apparently startled by this behaviour.

"Well, can't say I knew Severus was your type, James. But it does explain why you keep picking on him. Really though, give the man some dignity."  
James's face reddened with anger as Harry got out his wand,

"Liberacorpus." Harry cast the spell at Snape who was gently let down from his position, caught by surprise at being let go. Harry smiled at him and gave him a wink. He then turned to Sirius,

"Alright, so how does this work, are we going to do a Spiderman kiss or…"  
"No!" Sirius shouted, face bright red at Harry's insinuation.

Harry crossed his arms,

"I sure hope this wasn't supposed to be bondage routine. We haven't even had our first date yet."

The other students were laughing outright now.

"I'm not…stop it!" Sirius ordered.

"You stop it. Put him down!" Lily's eyes blazed at Sirius.

"It's okay, this is actually kind of fun." Harry started moving his body, swinging back in forth. It looked a little strange, "You know, once you get used to it."  
"I'll put him down." Sirius agreed. He incanted the counter spell and Harry was flipped right-side up and put on the ground.

He dusted off his robes, straightening them a bit.

"Severus, are you alright?" Lily reached over to him, only for her hand to be slapped away.

"Get away from me, you filthy mudblood!"

Seriously? Harry wondered. He'd thought he'd drummed the humiliation down quite well. But Snape seemed to be wallowing in self-pity over the whole thing.

Lily looked completely shocked.

"You can't call her that!" James stepped forward, growling at Snape intimidatingly, "Take it back!"

"Just leave him alone!" Lily shouted, obviously torn from the whole thing.

Snape ran away, trying to escape the crowd of students, many of which looked horrified, many enraged, with a few who were blank-faced and obviously approving of the reaction.

"No." Harry grabbed James's shoulder before he could go, "Let them work it out." He said.

James looked at Harry disbelievingly,

"But he just…"  
"Yes, he did." Harry agreed, "But this is something that Lily has to handle. It's something she needs to do. Not you. Not anyone else. If you butt in now, it will look like she needs someone else to make her decisions for her. She'll just hate you for that."  
James seemed to calm down,

"Oh…"

"I don't want to snog you, by the way." Sirius interjected.

"We've moved passed that." Harry shot his godfather a weird look, "Although, saying that now…it kind of sounds like you _are_ interested."

"I'm not!" Sirius shouted.

Even Remus and Peter were looking at him strangely now.

"Anyways…" Harry moved his eyes away from Sirius, "I'm going to go eat now." He started walking down towards the Gryffindor table.

His eyes moved up to the teachers at the front of the room. Through all of that, none of them interfered?

Typical.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm getting some weird Back to the Future vibes, you? Also, where's my hoverboard? It's two thousand nineteen, almost two thousand twenty and I was promised a hoverboard! Where's my hoverboard, dammit!**

**I do not own Harry Potter**

It wasn't until later that evening that Harry saw Lily again. She ran upstairs to his dorm and pulled aside the curtains. Harry set down his manga and took off his headphones, looking up at her.

The Marauders watched the two interacting.

"Harry…could we…talk in private?" Lily asked him.

She looked upset. Her eyes were pleading. He knew that she was likely looking for some form of comfort. Maybe even a bit of reassurance that she'd done the right thing.

"Yeah. Sure." Harry agreed, getting up from his bed.

James's face was red,

"Hold on!" He protested, "Why him?"  
"What?" Lily turned to look at him with a frown on her face.

"Why him?" James repeated, "We're almost the same person, so why him? Why do you like him and not me?"  
Lily was looking angry. She was already emotionally drained and she didn't have patience for James's fit.

"He's hardly like you at all accept for maybe in appearance! He's more like me than he is like you!" Lily's eyes blazed angrily at him.

Harry shifted, hardly believing his teenage parents were arguing over who he was more like. He drew a breath, then sent James a glare,

"James, stop being a selfish prat!"  
James froze, then met Harry's eyes. He blinked rapidly, as though hardly believing what he was seeing for a moment.

"Lily came here because she's upset. Don't you get that? She's upset and drained, and you want to make this all about you. Frankly, I can't believe you even have the gull to talk to her at all after the stunt you pulled in the great hall earlier. You tried to humiliate two people because they happened to be friends with Lily. That's just petty. You say you like Lily, but right now, all you're doing is hurting her!"  
James looked startled by the declaration and Harry put a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"Sorry, let's go." He quietly guided her towards the stairs. Lily let him lead her out of the dorm and into the common room.

"Sorry." Harry said again, "I know you can handle yourself, but…you look a little drained. I didn't want you to do something you'd regret later because of…that."

"No, thank you." Lily managed a weak smile, "That was…really kind of you."

"Don't mention it." Harry said, "Now…do you want to talk here or somewhere else? Maybe a classroom?"  
"Yeah. A classroom would be nice." Lily shifted uncertainly.

"Alright." Harry said, trying to be as gentle as possible about the situation.

They exited the common room and made their way down to one of the nearby abandoned classrooms. Lily closed the door behind them. She let out a deep breath, then turned to Harry. There was pain in her eyes,

"I…" she looked down, not knowing where to begin, "You must think I'm so stupid."  
"Of course, not." Harry's eyebrows rose, surprised that she would think he'd think of her in such a way.

"Well…you must think something." Lily wrapped her arms around herself, "I mean, I was planning on eating with you and Severus, only for him to…He's been like that a lot. Since Hogwarts. He's changed from the sweet boy he used to be when we were little…I told him it was over."

"Oh." Harry said, not sure how to feel about that.

It kind of sucked that things were happening the same way as before. On the other hand, Snape had dug his own grave on this one.

"I mean, it wasn't just calling me a…that word that did it." Lily tried to justify herself, "He…I asked him if he still intended to become a…a Death Eater. He…he wanted to. I could see it in his eyes. I can't understand how he can think that's okay. I'm a muggleborn! And he just wants to turn a blind eye to that. Like…like I'm an exception. Like it's okay to hurt other people just because they aren't 'pureblooded' or…or whatever." She spat distastefully.

Harry nodded along,

"I don't really understand it either." He said, "I hardly understand my own existence. What right do I have to judge someone else's?"

Lily looked over at him,

"You know…you're very wise, Harry."

"Hardly." Harry shook his head, "I just don't understand why people need to hurt others to justify themselves. I don't think I want to understand. Hatred is a painful thing. It eats away at you. It changes you. I don't want that to happen to me. It's…scary."  
"I doubt it will." Lily looked into his eyes, "You're the kindest person I know."

Harry reddened a bit,

"That's kind of you to say."

Lily's eyes traveled over his face,

"Why don't we go out?"  
"Huh?" Harry's face went blank, wondering what the hell had just happened.

"I just…I want a nice guy." Lily said firmly, "I don't get why I seem to attract all the bad ones. I know Severus likes me more than just a friend. He was kind at one point. Maybe I would have considered it if that kindness had only grown. James is a complete toe-rag and a bully. But you're…you're just kind."  
Harry's face reddened,

"Lily, that's not…I don't think…"  
Dammit! How in the hell had it come to this?

Harry looked away and closed his eyes.

"Lily…trust me when I say that would be a bad idea."  
"Why not?" Lily's voice grew quieter.

Harry took a breath,

"I'm…not entirely real."  
Lily stared at him a long time,

"What?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair, hardly believing he was going to have to explain this…or, maybe he could just show her.

"Would you let me show you what I mean? I think…it might be a bit difficult. I mean, you might not understand if I put it into words."  
"Harry, what do you mean?" Lily looked worried, "How can you not be real?"

Harry gave her a slightly strained smile. It felt sad, even to himself.

"Do you trust me?"

Lily gave him a nod.

"Okay." Harry said, "I'm going to show you my memories…I hope you can forgive me for lying to you." He put his fingers to her temples and suddenly, Lily was falling.

Down and down into a dark void. Then, she was standing. She was watching a small boy, probably a first year, standing in front of a mirror.

In the mirror, she saw herself. Although, somehow, this version of herself seemed far older. Beside her was Potter. Not Harry, but James.

Her reflection touched the boy's shoulder lovingly. The boy turned and Lily saw that the boy's eyes were green.

"Harry."  
The boy turned around quickly, obviously startled.

There, walking out from the shadows was Dumbledore.

"Professor! I didn't see you." Harry said nervously.

_So, this is Harry,_ Lily thought as she stared at the little boy. She watched as Dumbledore explained the what the mirror they'd been looking into was and what it did.

Lily was confused, until Harry spoke.

"I see my family, sir."

The headmaster looked at the younger version of Harry with what Lily realized was pity.

Lily's eyes suddenly opened and she realized, she was staring into someone else's eyes. Green eyes. The exact same shade of green as hers.

It didn't make sense. He hadn't been to Hogwarts before…and he saw her in the mirror. An older version of her…and James?

"That's…impossible." She whispered.

Harry let out a breath through his nose and lifted his hands away from her temples.

"I'm from the future. Or, at least I was. Things have changed and now…I don't really exist in the future at all. Or I could. I'm…a possibility." Harry said, trying to find the right words, "Basically, a walking paradox. If I hadn't interfered, you and James Potter, would have wound up dating in your seventh year. I don't really know what happened, but something traumatizing occurred that caused him to grow up quickly. He stopped pulling pranks all together at some point and became very serious about his studies, going on to become head boy in his final year. Then, marrying you sometime after Hogwarts."  
Lily's eyes widened,

"I would never…James?" her face furrowed with disgust.

Harry grimaced,

"I know he's not the nicest guy to get on with. Not yet, at least. But I like to think he must have had something redeemable about him for you to choose him in the end."

Lily was staring at Harry a long time, before she finally managed to say,

"You're…you're…my…son?" it seemed to be the only thing that made sense. And even that didn't make any sense.

Harry nodded,

"Yeah…I don't really know how this all happened. I remember…in my time, the Deathly Hallows were united and a wish as granted. My wish. I've been working on theories to figure out how I wound up here. None of them are particularly good and they all lead to the same conclusion. I'm a walking paradox. I don't really exist. Or, I exist, but I also don't exist. Because of how precarious my existence is…it's very likely that I'll disappear someday. If I don't disappear…that means that all of the future has been completely rewritten and I'll never be able to go back."  
Lily stared at him a long time,

"I…I'm sorry, this is…a bit much. You're really…my son from the future?"

"I could show you more memories if you don't believe me." Harry offered.

Lily bit her lower lip, wondering if she should even be allowed to have such knowledge. Time wasn't supposed to be trifled with.

"Could you…tell me about the war? Do we win?"

Grief flashed through Harry's eyes,

"Yeah…we won. But a lot of people died."  
A thought occurred to Lily, a really horrible thought. Harry had been brought here for a wish, her mind traveled back to the memory she'd seen of Harry, a younger version of him looking into the mirror of Erised.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" she realized, "James too…"  
"Yeah." Harry said quietly, realizing there was no getting around it, "My mother and father died when I was one. Vo – You-know-who killed them personally. The war had killed all of my magical relatives by that point. The only family I had was my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. They raised me."

"Petunia…my sister raised you?" Lily looked shocked by the news.

"Well…" Harry trailed off, "She was blackmailed into doing it by the headmaster. But she took me in."  
"Was she…okay?" Lily looked worried, thinking back to her strained relationship with her older sister.  
Harry was silent a while,

"She wasn't the best to me." He finally said, "But I had a roof over my head and I had food. I didn't know I was magical until Hogwarts. I was told my parents died in a car crash…" he started telling her about how Hagrid had introduced him to the magical world, his first year, meeting Ron and Hermione and the philosopher's stone.

They had both sat down on top of desks, getting comfortable as Harry told her his story.

Lily listened, eyes widening at some parts, usually the more horrific parts.

He went on to talk about his second year. About the warning from Dobby the house elf, Ron helping him escape his bedroom and the flying car.

Then about Lockheart, the idiot, then on to the Halloween feast, Sir Nick's Death Day, and the Chamber of Secrets being opened.

He told her about his discovering he was a parslemouth and all the suspicions being placed on him. The news surprised Lily, but she allowed him to continue.

Harry went through each victim and how they were all being petrified one by one. Then, finally, he told her about the chamber its self.

"It's in the girls' washroom?" Lily repeated disbelievingly.

"Yeah…I don't think it was always there." Harry said, "I believe that one of the Gaunts who worked on the renovations at Hogwarts did something to the plumbing in there…I never really bothered to look that much into it though. I mean, there was a chamber with a basilisk in it."  
"It was a basilisk!?" She shouted.

"I'm getting there." Harry said, a little upset he'd managed to spoil some of the story. He talked about how he and Ron had ventured into the forbidden forest after Hagrid's suggestion to 'follow the spiders.'

Turned out the forest was occupied by an acromantula colony.

Harry told her about the escape, then going back to Hermione and finding the paper in her hand that talked about the basilisk and how she had managed to put the pieces together.

And, of course, Harry's going into the chamber with Ron and Lockheart, Lockheart losing his memories and his confronting Tom Riddle, who was actually Voldemort, currently possessing Ginny Weasley, and the basilisk.

"I can't believe it." Lily whispered, "You defeated a basilisk when you were twelve?"

"Well…I had help." Harry gave a small smile, "And, to be honest, I might be playing myself up a bit. You are my mother, you know?"  
Lily shot him a dry look,

"Still weird."  
"Right, well, onto my third year…" Harry started on about the newspapers and Sirius Black escaping prison.

"Sirius?" Lily looked surprised and more than a little horrified, "Why would Sirius be in prison? I mean…"  
"I'll get to that." Harry told her, "And please listen until the very end. It's not what it seems. The whole thing is kind of loopy, actually."

His third year had been the most confusing of all his years. Mostly because all of the evidence pointed to Sirius having gone mad and killed thirteen people along with betraying Lily and James.

Lily was actually quite adamant that he hadn't done anything.

"Sirius might be annoying, and a bully, but he'd never betray James." Lily stopped him as he told her about the conversation Harry had overheard at the Three Broomsticks from McGonagall.

"You're right." Harry agreed, "He didn't. That's why I'm telling you to wait until the end. Sirius didn't do anything wrong at all, in fact…well, he at least tried to do the right thing."

He skipped ahead a bit to the confrontation in the shrieking shack and the revelation of the Marauder's secret.

"They're animagi?" Lily whispered.

"Yup." Harry said, "Well, I don't think they are quite yet. But they're probably working on it by this point. All accept Remus."  
"What? Why Remus?" Lily furrowed her brow.

Harry grimaced, wondering if it was really alright to reveal the truth about that part…then, he figured, his mother was going to find out eventually, so…

Lily covered her mouth with her hand,

"I had no idea…" Instead of fear in her eyes, however, there was sympathy.

Harry nodded,

"He can't know I told you that. At this point in his life he's scared of anyone finding out about his condition."  
"I won't say a word." Lily promised, "So, the four of them are animagi…and…and Peter betrays us?"

Harry nodded,

"But, it hasn't happened yet. Their friendship hasn't been tainted by the war."

Even he didn't sound entirely convinced.

"I won't trust him." Lily said, "If he wants to fight against you-know-who, then fine. But I'm not trusting him with my life…or the important things."  
Harry nodded, feeling satisfied with that.

"I sometimes wonder what it might have been like if Sirius had raised me. I mean, he was my godfather."  
"Was?" Lily felt a feeling of dread clawing at her stomach.

Harry grimaced,

"Yeah…I'll get to that. First, I'll tell you about my fourth year."

He started out with being picked up from the Dursleys by the Weasley family, then the attack on the quidditch world cup.

There was a lot to cover, thinking on it.

Harry told her about the goblet of fire and how his name came out after the other three champions were chosen, and a little background information on each of them.

Then, there were the tasks. Harry went through them each individually, and then ended with what happened in the graveyard and Voldemort's resurrection.

"But…how is that possible?" Lily asked him, "How could he still survive all of that. It shouldn't be possible."  
"It wouldn't be." Harry said, "Unless he'd done something to stop himself from dying."

"I can't believe Peter…I can't believe he'd do that…" Lily whispered.

"But he hasn't done it yet." Harry said firmly.

She shook her head,

"That's incredible."  
"What is?" Harry asked her.

"Well, you went through all of that, but you're still willing to give Peter the benefit of the doubt." Lily said, "I don't even want to give him that, but you're the person who went through all that and you do."  
Harry flushed a bit,

"Well…it's not right to punish people for things that haven't happened yet."  
He'd be a hypocrite if he said it was okay. After all…he had been destined for something thanks to a certain prophecy. He liked to think that he could choose his own fate.

That, in the end, he had chosen to defeat Voldemort. Not because someone else had told him to, or because there was a prophecy, but because _he_ had chosen it.

He told her about his fifth year and all about Umbridge and the Order of the Phoenix, an organization started by Dumbledore. He told her about the papers and their trying to discredit him and the headmaster.

He told her about how his visions started to grow in frequency and occlumency lessons with Snape and discovering that he'd known his parents when they'd been in Hogwarts.

Lily flinched as she realized her former friend grew into someone so terribly bitter.

Finally, Harry told her about the battle in the department of mysteries and Sirius's death.

Sirius's death had hit him the hardest. It still hurt to talk about it to this day. Sirius had been the first person in his life who had really cared. He was the first one to wanted him to be happy as well as safe.

"I know this might sound terrible," Harry said, "But…I think that the toughest person to see might be Sirius. He was the first person I met that really cared. I know he had his problems. He spent years in Azkaban. But he tried so hard…and he died for me in the end as well. When I see him here now, I know he doesn't know about all that. Because, for him, we never had that relationship. He hasn't been through all the horrors my Sirius went through. I think we were able to relate particularly well because Sirius didn't have a very good homelife growing up either. I think…it's either this year or the next one that his family disowns him and he runs away from home."  
Lily was silent, but Harry could tell that her view of Sirius had been altered dramatically.

"But…how did you get here? You're fifteen…right?"  
Harry shook his head,

"I'm older than I look. Although, I think that's due to whatever magic sent me here. I'm twenty-one."  
"Twenty-one." Lily murmured.

"Yeah…" Harry drew in a calming breath, "I defeated you-know-who when I was seventeen years old. I'll tell you how I did it too."


	7. Chapter 7

**More of this somewhat strange, Anime-addicted Harry Potter who really just wanted to go to Akihabara with his best friend but somehow ended up in the past…How did such a plot even come to me?**

**I do not own Harry Potter**

By the time Harry was finished talking to Lily, it was already well passed curfew. Lily felt like her entire world had been shaken. The ending of Harry's story had been…unbelievable.

She wondered how she would have felt in Harry's shoes, if she had found out that her whole life had been just a set up for her to choose to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

She thought she would scream and cry, maybe even run away.

But not Harry.

Not her son.

That was why Harry had taken such an interest in her, Lily thought back to their conversations. That was why he seemed to hang off her every word.

She was his mother. Well, not yet, but when she was older, she might have a baby with dark hair and green eyes.

She did have to give Sirius a bit of credit, he'd tried his very best while trying to battle his own demons. And he'd thought about Harry until the very end. Maybe him and James would grow up a bit…maybe. But she had no plans on going out with James Potter anytime soon. Not until he really did mature.

….

00000000000000000

….

"_Abc tsuzukanai sonna n ja dame ja nai  
Datte kokoro no oku wa chigau n ja nai?  
Ore no seishun sonna mon ja nai atsuku oku de hatetai yo  
Kitto kimi ja nakya ya da yo ore wa ikenai taiyou Na Na_" Harry sang, his legs playing in the air as he turned the page of his manga.

"What language is tha –" Sirius walked into his room, only to pause when he saw the pictures in Harry's book. His face reddened, "What the hell are you reading!?" he shouted.

Harry took off his earphones and blinked up at him,

"Hana Kimi." He answered him honestly, "It's about a girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to enter an all boys school so that she can meet her idol. It's a comedy."  
"B-but…t-this looks like…t-two blokes…" Sirius stuttered out, his face going red.

Harry raised an eyebrow,

"And?"

Sirius took a step away. Harry raised an amused eyebrow. He hadn't realized that Sirius was in the closet. Thinking on it, had Sirius really shown any interest in anyone before?

Wait, no. He had slept with some girls before…he was probably bi or pan like him.

"Japanese." He answered Sirius, "The music. It's Japanese. The manga is originally in Japanese too, but this is an English translation. Manga is a Japanese thing. Since Japanese is read from right to left, unlike English which is read left to right, the pictures are backwards. See?" He showed Sirius the book.

Sure enough, the cover was on the opposite side of where it ought to be.

"Just a moment." Harry opened up his trunk and pulled out some other manga, he tossed one to Sirius, "This one might be more your speed. It's Naruto. It's about a ninja who pulls pranks and aspires to be the ruler of his clan one day. It's pretty cool, maybe you'll get some good prank ideas from it…like the sexy jutsu."  
"The what?" Sirius paused, wondering what the hell that was.

Harry grinned, then pulled out another book. He opened it up and showed him,

"See? The sexy jutsu. Basically, he uses his justsu, that's…kind of like a spell, I guess? He uses it to turn himself into a sexy babe and distract his opponents. Believe it or not, it's actually very effective."  
Sirius snorted,

"The…sexy jutsu."  
"Don't tell anyone," Harry smiled mischievously, "But…I may have invented a technique like it."

"Really?" Sirius chuckled, now growing interested.

"Yeah. Who would have thought that a trick from a manga would one day save my life?"

"How did it save your life?" Sirius wanted to know, getting the feeling there was a good story there.

Harry grinned, then started telling him about an escapade of his in France. He had to do a bit of editing, since he was supposed to be fifteen, but the story remained mostly in tact.

Sirius was laughing uncontrollably by the end of it.

The curtains were thrown open abruptly and James came in looking red in the face,

"What are you two doing?" he demanded.

Harry looked over at Sirius, then back at James,

"Well, I was planning on teaching Sirius the sexy jutsu…" Harry trailed off.

"The…what?"

"It's a jutsu that temporarily turns you into a sexy woman or man so you can temporarily distract your opponent." Harry elaborated, trying his best not to laugh at James's face.

"It's a thing." Sirius pulled out the manga Harry had shown him, "See?" He showed James the picture.

James looked at the picture a long time, then looked back over at Harry,

"It's…really a thing?"  
Harry grinned,

"I was just telling Sirius my experience with it." He looked over at his young godfather, "And one day I will get him to cross-dress."  
"Yeah, no. Not happening." Sirius's tone changed.

"You've got the legs for it." Harry offered, then smirked, "And I do mean that in the most complimentary way possible."  
Sirius's face reddened.

James crossed his arms,

"First you take Lily from me and now Sirius."  
Harry immediately sobered and Sirius subconsciously scooted away from Harry. He could sense the anger pouring off the green-eyed boy.

"First off, I didn't steal Lily from anyone. She hated you and after talking to her, I actually managed to improve her opinion of you. I actually like you. Although I'm starting to wonder why." Harry's eyes narrowed at James, "Ever since we've met you've been nothing but antagonistic towards me. You're a bully too. I've seen the way you treat others and the self-important way you strut around. But I still like you and I really am trying to get along with you but you're…you're impossible!" Harry burst, his hands curling into fists.

Why did his father have to be a jealous prat all the time? Why did he have to hurt other people like that?

"What exactly do you want from me?" Harry's eyes narrowed at his boy who would one day be his father, "Do you want me to not have any friends? Do you want me to be miserable?"  
"I don't –" James began, suddenly feeling very defensive.

"You're so caught up in yourself, you don't even see what's really going on!" Harry growled frustratedly, "You don't understand that you're making your relationship with the people around you more difficult. You don't even seem to appreciate the people around you!"  
"I appreciate the people around me!" James's eyes widened, like the thought hadn't even occurred to him.

"Yeah?" Harry challenged, "You seem to think you know what's best for others. You tried to decide what was best for Lily, who she ought to hang out with and that pushed her away. What happens if you push Sirius away too? What about me? What about Remus?"  
"What about Peter?" Sirius looked at Harry, realizing he'd left Peter out.

Harry paused a moment,

"Sure." He gave a shrug, "My point still stands. This is your problem. You need to figure it out. And quit being so jealous. I know it's easy to say, but Sirius isn't going to leave you just because we're friends too. Trust in him. Trust his judgement in friends and trust he'll stick by you. He's a good person, but I shouldn't have to say that."

James felt uncomfortable under Harry's gaze. It was just plain weird. It was like he was being yelled at by Lily…he hadn't realized until then that both Harry's eyes and Lily's eyes were the same color.

Then, James did something none of them expected, he turned around and retreated to his bed, pulling the curtains behind him.

Harry took a deep breath and turned to Sirius,

"Maybe I went a bit far…wait a few minutes, then go talk to him." He said, then something occurred to him, "You'd almost think this were a boys' love manga and we were two suitors fighting over you."  
"No one thinks that!"

Pour closeted Sirius, Harry thought.

….

0000000000000000

…..

The next day was Saturday. Harry met Lily down in the common room, their plans hadn't been canceled after Lily had found out the truth of Harry's origins.

"So…shall we?" Harry smiled at her.

"You're a lot more charming than your father, at least." Lily offered him an odd smile, obviously still not used to the fact that she had gotten together with James. Or, she would have gotten together with James…or she might still.

"Hey!"  
The two turned to see Sirius running down the stairs of the boys' dorm.

"Harry…could I come with you?"  
Harry's eyebrows rose. He looked conflicted a moment, then his eyes wandered back over to Lily,

"Is it okay…"  
Lily let out a sigh,

"I'm guessing James sent him to spy on us. Honestly…I would say no." She looked up at Sirius, "But Harry likes you for some reason and I think he actually wants you to come along."  
Sirius looked over at Harry hopefully.

"It's up to you, Harry." Lily told him.

"Alright." Harry said, "You can come with us, Sirius. We'll find a way to get you out of the closet yet."

Sirius looked confused,

"Out of the closet? What does that mean?"  
Lily looked at Harry with surprise,

"Sirius is gay?"

"What!? No, I'm not!" Sirius shouted.

"That's why it's called 'being in the closet.'" Harry said wisely, "It means, you're in denial. And I never said he was gay. I think he likes women too."  
"Are you, er…" Sirius trailed off.

"I'm pansexual." Harry grinned.

"What…that's not a word." Sirius shook his head.

"Is too." Harry argued, "It means that I think everyone's attractive. Men, women, other. Doesn't matter."  
Lily looked surprised, but quickly shook it off,

"It is a real thing, Sirius."  
"Really?" Sirius looked surprised, "People can like birds and blokes? And that's…normal?"

Lily's eyebrows rose. She was starting to realize that maybe Harry had been right about Sirius being in the closet.

"Completely normal." Harry assured him, "People should be allowed to love whoever they want. How could that possibly be a bad thing?"

"Very true." Lily said, looking at Sirius with a bit of interest.

She didn't know much about the boy if she were being completely honest with herself. In fact, this might have been the longest conversation she'd had with him.

**Note: The lyrics Harry was singing is from a somewhat older Japanese live-action drama called Hana Kimi. It was originally a Shojou Manga. The song is called Ikenai Taiyou by Orange Range.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you all for the great reviews! This is one of those stories that I wasn't sure would get a lot of attention. I'm really happy for all the support! I was always kind of scared to publish my work, but this has given me a lot more confidence. Thank you once again, I hope you continue to enjoy my stories.**

**I do not own Harry Potter**

Walking through the gates to Hogsmeade, Lily looked over at Harry expectantly,

"So, where should we go? Should we see if they have a treacle tart flavoured candy first?"

"A what?" Sirius looked over at Lily.

"We want to know if such a candy exists." Harry explained, "And if not, then we're going to get the ingredients to bake our own."  
"Uh…why?" Sirius lifted an eyebrow over at Harry who seemed to be the usual cause for any strange ideas in Gryffindor as of late.

"Because treacle tart is the best desert ever created." Harry said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "What could possibly rival a treacle tart in flavour, texture, aroma?"  
"Nothing." Lily said seriously, "But Harry's the baking expert. I can't cook at all."  
Sirius looked over at Harry again expectantly,

"You're good at baking?"  
"Of course, I am." Harry looked horrified over the thought that he could possibly be bad at baking, "I've been living along for years. What, am I supposed to eat nothing but take-out?"  
"Well, I don't know." Sirius said uncertainly, "I just…didn't expect that, I guess. Then again, you have all sorts of weird interest…"  
"All sorts of weird interests?" Lily repeated, "Like what?"  
"Well, his manga for one thing." Sirius said.

"That's perfectly normal." Harry dismissed.

"Creepy muggle Japanese comics, that's normal?" The doubt was obvious in Sirius's voice.

"Oh, those things." Lily nodded, thinking back to the comic books she'd seen Harry read. She wasn't sure she was a fan. Most of them seemed rather violent and gory. But, although she and Harry had an uncanny amount in common, she supposed they couldn't be identical.

"And the cross-dressing thing."  
"Cross-dressing?" That actually did surprise Lily.

"It's called crossplay." Harry corrected.

"I wouldn't mind seeing that…" Lily smiled a bit, her eyes twinkled with a bit of mischief.

"Really?" Sirius wondered. It was a hobby that weirded most people out, but…

"Of course…what's crossplay? I'm assuming it involves dressing up as a girl?" Lily asked him.

"Sort of. It's like…dressing up as a female anime character." Harry explained, "Then, you have to act like that character. They have conventions for that stuff, and if your cosplay, or crossplay is any good, then people will ask to take a picture with you. Oh, and sometimes, if you're really lucky, you'll find yourself crossplaying as someone's waifu and if you're flirty enough, you'll get free stuff."  
"I don't know what 'wifu' means," Sirius said dryly, "But I'm pretty sure that last bit isn't part of the normal convention, or whatever."  
Harry smirked in a secretive way.

Lily raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure how she was supposed to feel about that…hobby.

"A …waifu?" she hardly understood any of what Harry was explaining.

"A waifu is like…a fictional character that has the ideal personality of someone you might want to date in real life." Harry explained, "People can go crazy over a waifu character, or a character they personally consider their waifu."

"So…you flirt as a girl?" Sirius grimaced.

Harry laughed,

"Come to think of it…when we first met, you seemed to think I was a 'cute girl.' Your words." Harry hummed thoughtfully, his eyes sparkled, "Interested?"  
Sirius's face reddened a bit,

"No. I-I…no." He shook his head.

Harry laughed again and Sirius's face was still hot.

"I'm…learning things I'm not sure I wanted to learn." Lily muttered.

The three of them started heading down to Honeydukes to search out a candy which may or may not exist.

Of course, when they got to the store, the clerk there said they didn't sell anything close to what Harry and Lily described.

They were disappointed, but they still bought a whole bag of chocolate.

"Okay, so, ingredients." Harry began.

"Ingredients?" Sirius repeated.

"For baking." Lily clarified for him, "Harry's going to teach me how to make chocolate chip cookies."  
Harry nodded passionately,

"Chocolate chip is the best of all cookies. Then, I think we'll work our way up to a treacle tart. If we work on it a bit, then you should be able to make it for your family this summer. Oh! Maybe we can try some of the dishes unique to the magical world."  
"I hadn't thought of that." Lily admitted, "But yeah. Think you can teach me some stuff before the summer?"  
"Of course." Harry grinned, "That was the plan."

Lily returned the smile. It was then that she realized, she was already starting to get used to Harry being a part of her life.

It was strange…after learning he was her son from an alternate timeline, there was a point in time she thought she'd never really get used to him. Not when his presence was so alien. But all that time she'd spent with him, and it hadn't been particularly long now that she thought about it, she'd really developed some sort of affection for him. It was an odd sort of bond. She wondered if she loved him.

Mothers were supposed to love their sons, but she wasn't so sure she was a mother. Not really…

The more she thought about Harry, the more confused she got.

Thinking back on it, she might have felt something even before learning about their relationship. Maybe that was what had made her approach him in the first place.

She felt great knowing she and Harry could be friends, that she could love Harry, her child as a person outside of their being biologically related.

A scream broke her from her thoughts.

Harry's eyes widened and his wand flicked into his hand. The world around them grew cold.

His entire demeanor had changed, Lily observed. She wasn't looking at a care-free young man anymore. She was looking at the war hero. The boy-who-lived and the man-who-conquered. She was looking at the person who had faced a sixty-foot basilisk when they had been twelve-years-old. The person who had faced Voldemort several times all on his own. The person who had driven off hundreds of dementors, out-flown a dragon, hunted horcruxes and won a war.

And, little did she know it, she was also looking at the man who had slain a god.

Lily felt the sudden need to scream as horrible, horrible voices filled her head. She was pretty sure she heard her sister, Petunia calling her a freak.

It was like…like she might never be happy again.

Harry had described the dementors to her before, but never had she thought the actual experience could be so…well, there were no words to describe how horrible it was to truly experience a dementor's presence.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted.

A stag leaped out from his wand. It shone brightly and only seemed to gain in strength and brilliance, filling the very sky above.

The dementors fled its light. Where once the sky had been growing dark, light appeared to be returning.

Sirius's eyes widened at the display. He himself was ashamed to say that he hadn't even been able to move. He drew a shuddering breath, only just realizing that tears were falling down his face.

That patronus…he'd never seen a patronus before, only really powerful wizards could cast one, after all. But he was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be that strong. Not a normal one, anyway.

"Lily, Sirius, eat some chocolate." Harry told them, "It will help with the effects." He reached into the bag Lily was holding and took a bite himself, as though to assure them it was fine, even though they'd only just bought the chocolate minutes ago.

Sirius shakily took a chocolate from the bag and popped it in his mouth. He felt his body getting warm again, then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," Harry said, "You alright?"

"I…I'm fine." Sirius looked away, trying to brush away what had just happened and hoping no one had actually seen him cry.

"It will be worse for you." Harry said, causing Sirius to look up, "I think, it's usually the strongest people who are affected by the dementor. The strong and the spoiled bullies. I think you're more the former though. It's the strong who have gotten that way by facing tragedy and misfortune…things that need to be overcome. All of those things are brought to the surface. You aren't going to feel well now, but you will, and you'll be stronger the next time you're faced with a dementor too…though I hope that doesn't happen to you again."

Harry turned around suddenly, flicking his wand and silently commanding the earth to rise up in a block. The earth exploded and Harry quickly cast another spell, causing the shards of the ground to freeze in mid-air and transform into knives. He banished them at their attacker who was unprepared for the sudden retaliation.

The knives sunk into the flesh of the masked, cloaked figure.

Lily made a sound and quickly turned away. Sirius turned green, his face was pale,

"You…killed him."  
Harry let out a breath,

"I didn't hit the vitals. He'll be in pain, but he should be fine."

"You can do that?" Sirius whispered, as though never having heard of something like that before.

"If you take aim, then yes." Harry said calmly. In far too calm a way for this particular situation.

"Y-you're used to this." Sirius realized. The conclusion caused his stomach to sink. What could Harry have gone through for him to be so calm under threat of his very soul being taken? Of his life being severed?  
Harry tensed, he took a step forwards and held out his left arm, the arm without a wand to the side as though to protect both him and Lily from harm.

"Stay behind me." He told them in a voice that left no room for argument.

From around the corner of the building came a familiar looking snake-faced man. His deep, blood-red eyes met Harry's.

Harry's chin dipped forward and his eyes seemed to grow darker.

"The patronus caster, I presume." Voldemort looked Harry over, as though assessing him. Gaging his strength. Then, his eyes traveled to his Death Eater who was still breathing, pinned by knives to the earth.

"M-mas…ter…"

Voldemort looked at him with disgust.

Harry was half expecting him to cast the killing curse at him. But, to his surprise, he didn't. A rare show of mercy. Perhaps this Death Eater was important to the cause. Still needed for some task.

He turned back to look into Harry's eyes.

"Harry Potter." Harry said calmly.

"A Potter. A noble family. The Death Eaters could use more, strong purebloods such as yourself. Join me, Potter." He honestly thought that Harry's introducing himself meant that he would join. He was acting as though he'd already won.

Even Sirius and Lily were looking at Harry as though he had just decided to don a mask and go about killing the innocent.

Instead, Harry spoke in the same, calm tone as before,

"You misunderstand me."  
A frown marred Voldemort's face.

"It's not up to us to decide who lives and who dies, or to cut the life of a flower short before it has the chance to bloom. In some cultures, warrior cultures, it is considered a kindness to introduce one's self to one's opponent so that they may know the name of the one that kills them. I cannot allow you to hurt anyone else, so," Harry calmly tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, "I'll just have to kill you."

This seemed to enrage the creature before him.

How dare he! A child, still in Hogwarts, dare defy him! How dare this child donned in muggle attire oppose him!

"Avada Kadavra!"  
Harry calmly flicked his wand upwards, but he didn't do the same thing as he'd done previously, instead, sparks of lightning flickered outwards, sparking through the air. The spell seemed to hit the sparks, creating green lightning that vanished just as soon as it appeared.

Voldemort's eyes lit up with surprise. Nothing could stop the killing curse…

"Not many know this, but electricity can actually disrupt magic." Harry spoke calmly.

Lily and Sirius were both staring at him, frozen on the spot.

"It's almost considered a taboo, to use electricity or lightning magic because of this…maybe that's how the rumors of technology being unable to function at Hogwarts developed." Harry's eyes seemed to glow, "Expelliarmus!"

Voldemort cast a shield while Harry cast a chain of curses after his initial attack.

The sky seemed to grow darker and black clouds swirled around overhead. Storm clouds.

Everyone there could tell that they were responding to Harry's magic.

People had started to watch through the windows of their shops. They'd never seen such an intense battle before.

Harry had improved in his years traveling around and studying magic. His usual style involved a lot of physical movement. Running, jumping and other such stuff. But now protecting two other people, he didn't dare move an inch and had instead opted to rely on his creativity.

Quickly realizing he was facing no ordinary opponent, Voldemort started to match his creativity, attempting to move the ground beneath Harry's feet, only for Harry to respond by freezing the earth completely and creating spikes of ice.

Voldemort counteracted it with a fire whip which he waved around his head.

Harry had only seen Dumbledore use that spell. For some reason, he hadn't thought Voldemort would use it, if only due to his pride.

Harry turned the ice to water and pressurized it, sending it forward.

Voldemort moved out of the way and tried a few nasty curses. Harry recognised a rotting curse thrown in there. He cast a barrier of electricity around them. The sparks flew, crackling about and the sky started to fill with the same energy, striking at the ground in front of them.

Things were getting dangerous now and they both knew it.

Rain started to fall, then pour down onto their battlefield. Harry was not about to lose. He waved his wand around him in circles causing the wind to pick up and the forces around them seemed to bombard their senses. It was as if mother nature herself were shouting at the mad man that dared to judge the lives of others as inferior.

Harry wanted to defeat this man. He wanted to stop him quickly. Then, maybe he could stop the momentum of this war. Maybe…maybe he could save the people of this timeline a little grief.

He turned the rain around him into crystal spears, sending them towards Voldemort who barely managed to shield against them. But he made a fatal mistake when he failed to check behind him.

A spike pierced him in the shoulder.

Shit, Harry thought as he heard the sound of a portkey activate.

"No!" He shouted, only for the dark lord to vanish from sight.

Harry's eyes widened and the rain stopped. The sky cleared and the sun started to shine again. He wanted to curse and kick something. Maybe punch a wall…but, he'd learned his lesson the last three times.

He closed his eyes and counted to five. He opened them again. And found people coming out of their homes.

They were…applauding? Harry was confused a moment, then shook his head,

"Um…we should go back." Harry paused a moment, "Actually, I…need to check on something. Go to Hogwarts and contact the headmaster. We don't know if any students were caught up in this and they might need to do a head count. Do you mind if I take the chocolate bag? In case I find someone needing a bit after the dementors…"  
Lily seemed to regain her senses after a moment. Harry waited patiently for her to respond.

"I…yes." She managed to say in a squeaky voice.

Harry took the bag from her hands slowly, as though not to startle her.

"Thank you." He said, nodding to her.

"That was…how did you do that?" Sirius looked at Harry with awe.

Harry gave him an awkward smile, like he didn't quite know how to answer that.

"Just…lots of practice, I guess. Now go. Get the headmaster." He urged them again.

Finally, they seemed to listen.

If it were Ron and Hermione, they would have insisted on staying. But Harry was lucky. It wasn't Ron and Hermione, his two friends who were used to this sort of danger, or the idea of being faced by life or death situations. It wasn't his friends who had been hardened by the war.

It was two regular kids looking for a bit of guidance in an unfamiliar situation.

If they kept running into situations like this, however, they would end up insisting on staying, Harry thought to himself.

The people around him were starting to try putting their shops back together. Harry moved off to the side. He knelt down by a rickety sign advertising a special on jasmine dragon tea. Gently, he lifted up a smooth, invisible fabric, as though lifting a veil.

The pale and shaky frame of James Potter was revealed.

He'd been affected badly, Harry observed with a slight wince.

It seemed he came by his aversion to dementors naturally.

"H-Harry…I-I…"  
"It's okay." Harry told him gently and in a knowing sort of voice that said he didn't need to explain himself.

He reached into the bag of chocolates.

"Here. You'll feel better if you eat a bit. Chocolate helps with dementor exposure."  
James took it, but he seemed…wary.

"It's not poisonous." Harry promised him. He took the chocolate from James's hand and took a small bite, leaving about half of it for him. He swallowed it down, "See?"  
James tentatively took the rest of the chocolate Harry gave him and ate it soon after. A bit of color returned to his cheeks.

Harry knew that if the patient wasn't treated immediately, sometimes they grew suspicious of people unless they were given some chocolate.

Harry offered him some more chocolate from the bag and this time James didn't hesitate.

There was silence as he ate.

"I'm sorry." James spoke, "I…I saw you. I saw everything and I…I froze. Why did I freeze? I…"  
"Because you were scared." Harry told him, "And that's okay. Fear keeps you alive."  
"But…I'm a Gryffindor, I'm not supposed to…"  
"Courage isn't the inability to fear." Harry stopped him, "It's the ability to overcome your fears. It's something that's practices all the time. Overcoming fear, I mean. It's okay if you freeze. I froze when I came across my first dementor. Actually, I fainted."  
"You've come across those things before?" James looked sick at the thought.

"Yeah." Harry sighed, "When I was thirteen. That's why I learned the patronus charm."  
James shook his head,

"I don't believe this…how can you just…do that? How can you fight against Voldemort like that? You nearly won…"  
Harry's lips twitched,

"Experience. It sucks that I've lived the sort of life where I can claim that sort of skill level. But that's how it is. Every time I fought, I grew a little stronger. Every time someone attacked me, or tried to take my life, I'd fight them with all I had. Sometimes I lost. Sometimes it was a draw. And that's okay." Harry said, accepting that and having come to terms with that long ago, "I don't fight unless I have to though. Today I fought because I knew that people would die if I didn't. I might have died if I hadn't and so would Sirius and Lily."  
"I…I hate this." James said, "I hate myself. What the dementors showed me…I'm so confused."

Harry didn't know what else to do, so he drew close to him and wrapped his arms around him. James appeared surprised a moment if the tensing of his shoulders was anything to go by, but he quickly welcomed the comfort the hug provided.

He buried his face into Harry's shoulder and the two of them stilled.

Harry thought back to Dudley and how he had experienced something different. A sort of epiphany about his life and how what he'd been doing had been wrong.

He wondered if that might be what James was going through.

Maybe that was what had happened the first time around. James facing the dementors and reaching the same conclusion about his life. Maybe this was what had caused him to mature.


	9. Chapter 9

**Finally! The long awaited duel with Voldemort! As you can imagine, Harry has made his way onto Voldemort's list of enemies.**

**I do not own Harry Potter.**

…**.**

As Harry had predicted, there was a headcount when they got back. And, sadly, as he had also predicted, not everyone had made it.

Three students had died in the attack.

From that point on, Dumbledore announced that all Hogsmeade visits would be canceled until further notice.

No one protested the decision. They were too rattled by what had happened.

Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be the center of attention all over again, even though he tried his best to sink into the background.

During supper the day after the attack, McGonagall came by the Gryffindor, walking over to Harry.

"Mister Potter." She looked him straight in the eye, "Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office."  
Harry grimaced,

"Alright…now?" He realized the headmaster wasn't even there.

"Now."

Harry got up and James gave him a somewhat encouraging look before he left and followed after McGonagall.

He already knew what this was about. He placed his headphones over his ears and tried to relax a bit before the meeting.

Being tense just made things worse, in Harry's experience.

Harry didn't hear the password McGonagall used to get passed the gargoyle, but from the way her lips moved, Harry could guess she'd said 'cotton candy.'

He followed her up the spiralling stone staircase. His ear-headphones illuminated the stairway slightly.

McGonagall knocked on the door at the top of the case, although there was no need. The headmaster knew they were there.

"Come in." Dumbledore's voice invited them.

McGonagall opened the door and allowed Harry to enter first. He took off his headphones, allowing them to sit around his neck.

"Harry Potter." Dumbledore met his eyes, "Do you know why you're here?"  
"Um…" Harry shifted a little. Just because he was used to this didn't mean it didn't make him nervous. It was also so weird to see Dumbledore alive again. "I guess…because of what happened in Hogsmeade?"

"Partially." The headmaster confirmed, "Please, take a seat." He offered.

Harry heard the door close, signalling that McGonagall had left.

"Lemon drop?" The headmaster offered him the bowl.

"Sure." Harry said, then took one and popped it in his mouth. He took out a bag from his pocket, "I got these from Hogsmeade. Would you like one? They're incredibly good."  
"Well…I suppose, if it's alright." The headmaster took one of the chocolates from the bag and popped one in his mouth, "Coconut." He commented.

Harry nodded, the coconut ones were his favourite so he always got extras of those.

"Mister Potter," The headmaster began, "I've been told that you and Voldemort had a duel. I found the rumor hard to believe, I must confess. But when so many people confirm seeing it themselves, it does make one start to believe it true. That a school boy could go toe to toe with a powerful wizard of Voldemort's caliber."

"Yeah…we fought." Harry confirmed.

"And, I'm also told that it ended with his fleeing." The headmaster pressed a bit.

"I got him with a crystal spear." Harry nodded, "But…I got him by surprise, and I used a pretty dirty trick too. Got him in the back. But, I couldn't just let him go around killing people."  
The headmaster's eyes rose,

"Where did you learn to control magic like that?"

"Kind of just…around." Harry answered honestly, "I've been in so many fights in my lifetimes, I guess, you just sort of have to get good."  
The headmaster stared at him a long time,

"I heard you lived on the streets." It sort of made sense, but to get that good, one would have to have people actively trying to kill them all the time.

"I wandered." Harry tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, thinking about what he'd been doing since his actual Hogwarts years. He'd had several attempts on his life from still loyal Death-Eaters, gotten picked on by muggers and even a gang at one point.

Harry could tell that the headmaster didn't completely believe him. Harry also knew that he didn't want him as an enemy.

He let out a sigh,

"It's all kind of a long story, professor."

The headmaster raised an eyebrow and smiled beneath his beard,

"Those are the best kind." His eyes twinkled, like someone waiting to be blown away.

Well, Harry decided, he could certainly blow him away.

"I'm related to the Potters. To James Potter. But I'm not his twin." Harry shook his head, "That's why I couldn't accept the money Euphemia and Fleamont offered for my education. It wasn't right."  
The headmaster nodded, indicating he had suspected this.

"My father was a Potter though." Harry continued, "There is a blood relation…just not the relation they think. I want to tell them myself what the exact relationship is before I tell you sir, if that's okay."  
Dumbledore gave another nod,  
"That's fair." He agreed.

"I want to tell them the whole story, and I plan on being completely honest…but I don't think I can tell James. He's not…really mature enough to handle that sort of thing yet." Harry grimaced, thinking about how James might react now if he realized he was actually Harry's biological father.

This part caused the headmaster's brow to furrow, as though he were worried for Harry,

"But you plan on telling me."  
"Not the whole story. Not yet. But later." Harry said, "Because…secrets can be painful and I never really liked them. I'll tell you a little bit about my past though, because…well, I think…it might be catching up to me." Harry took a deep breath, gathering himself before starting his story, "My mother was one of the best charms students in the world. She never got her mastery though. When I was little, someone was coming after my family and she didn't want her name to be well known enough to garner more interest than she already had. In hindsight, it might have been too late anyways." Harry bit his lower lip, "She…invented a way to essentially reflect the killing curse."  
The headmaster drew a sharp breath and leaned forward a bit. Harry knew he could tell when other people were lying without Legilimence, but he did feel a slight brush against his shields. He let Dumbledore see that he was being honest.

"Your mother created a way to reflect the killing curse." The headmaster repeated, "Might I inquire…"  
"A ritual." Harry said, "It was…" He looked away, "It involved someone…a person deciding to sacrifice themselves completely. A pure sacrifice, which would put a charm on whomever they intended. That's…well, that's one method. The other is to magically disrupt the spell."  
The headmaster obviously looked putout by the first method but felt some intrigue about the second.

"Electricity." Harry told him, "Electricity, when powerful enough, can actually disrupt magical spells. Most people would never use lightning spells in a fight. It's too chaotic. It can't really be controlled through magic like the other elements, but it can be guided. It takes a lot of practice…but once you get it down, it can be used to protect better than any other magic I know. That…actually doesn't have anything to do with my story." Harry realized, "I guess…I got a bit distracted."  
"I do that often myself." Dumbledore smiled a bit, "But I hadn't thought of that. Lightning as a defensive magic when so many others have tried to obtain its power for offensive purposes…sorry, go on."  
Harry smiled at him, knowing that the headmaster was always looking to learn new things. He always got excited about new magic, it was just a part of his personality.

"Well, my family went under the fidelius charm." Harry continued, "Originally, my father intended to use his best friend as the secret keeper, but they switched at the last moment. They were worried it would be too obvious. It turned out to be a mistake. The man they picked…he had already switched sides. Almost as soon as the switch was made, he went to the man that was after them. I was so young at the time…I didn't really understand what was going on. But he came that night. It was Halloween, I remember my father telling my mother to take me and run. She took me upstairs and put me down. He told her to stand aside. My mum. But she refused. She asked him to take her instead. He told her to move again, but she refused and then…then he killed her. With the killing curse." Harry went silent, his eyes grew somewhat distant. It wasn't a memory he liked to recount, but it might be necessary in this instant. "He pointed his want at me and he said the incantation again." Harry lifted his bangs.

The headmaster's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"My mum's theory was right." Harry said in a quiet voice, "The charm really worked. I woke up and…I was at my aunt's house."  
"So, your aunt took you in after that." Dumbledore realized, "And…what happened to her?"

"I don't know." Harry said quietly, "There was a blood protection over their house. She took me in, you know, to protect me…but…it fell."

"Do you know why?" He asked Harry concernedly.

Harry nodded his head. The fact of the matter was, after going back to his aunt's house and investigating, he'd learned that the protection had, in fact, fallen long ago.

"I couldn't think of that place as my home." Harry said, "My relatives…they didn't really want me. When my uncle started hurting me, and there was an attack on that house, I knew it was time to run. And I kept running. Running and fighting whoever tried to hurt me. I managed to kill the man that killed my parents. Took out his entire organization too. Well, obviously it's a longer story than that…"  
"I wouldn't mind hearing some more." The headmaster said, obviously intrigued. He'd never met someone who was so young and so powerful all at once. He doubted that even he would have been capable of dueling Voldemort when he had been Harry's age. "Your mother sounds like a brilliant woman."  
"She was." Harry agreed, "She…she died too young though. It's weird to think that someday I'll surpass her age. You know? I mean, I guess that's not too strange, but she was only in her twenties." He paused, "I wonder if I'll even live that long at all. To be honest, I wasn't really thinking when I declared myself Voldemort's enemy…It was…selfish, wasn't it?" Harry looked down, feeling shame over his actions, "I wanted to survive again and I wanted to save my friends. But by fighting him so directly, I made myself a target, and, in turn, James and his mum and dad…"

The headmaster gave him a sad look. He appeared older now than before, losing his vitality.

"I'm afraid that would have happened regardless. You had every right to defend yourself and your friends, Harry. But he would have discovered your name eventually."  
Harry nodded, he knew he was telling the truth…but part of him couldn't help but think he shouldn't have gotten involved. Even though he'd planned on killing him quickly…

"Will we be seeing you here next year at Hogwarts?" Dumbledore inquired curiously.

"I don't know." Harry admitted, "I need to talk to Euphemia and Fleamont. I don't think I have enough money for next term, but if they want nothing to do with me, then, I have enough to pay them back for school supplies…I'll have to come up with some way to make money after that…"  
Dumbledore couldn't help but feel pained that this child was thinking about ways of survival already. It was obviously something deeply ingrained into him. He had so much talent, and to waste it…Dumbledore felt it would be a crime.

"If it comes down to that, there's a special fund set aside for children who need it. Considering how well you've been doing in classes, I think you're more than qualified."  
"Thank you." Harry interrupted him, "But…but I've been getting on by myself and the few teachers I can pick up for years now. I mean…I know there are a lot of kids out there who need a steady schedule and classes…I think I can take my NEWTs at the ministry later if it comes down to it. I'm lucky enough to get my OWLs here so…at least I'll get a relatively good job to start off with."  
Dumbledore looked disappointed but understanding.

There was little more to say on the matter, but Harry didn't want to leave just yet,

"Um, headmaster, could I maybe ask you for a favour?"  
"You may ask." The headmaster cracked a small smile, "But I can make no guarantees."  
"I…I had an uncle. He was my dad's close friend." Harry explained, "He was a werewolf and…I'm pretty sure that Remus is a werewolf too and that you know he's a werewolf."  
Dumbledore's smile faded and his expression turned serious.

"I know he doesn't trust me with his secret yet." Harry continued, "And that's fine. We don't know each other very well. But, my uncle used a potion every full moon. It helped with his transformation. Helped him keep his mind, he said. I remember the recipe by heart. I'll write it down for you and…I'm hoping you'll brew it for him or have someone else brew it for him. Don't tell him I gave it to you though. Just…tell him you had a friend who happened to find the recipe folded up in an old pair of shoes…I think that's actually how my mum found it." Harry pretended to look thoughtful.

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose,

"I'd have to test the potion, you understand."  
"No problem." Harry agreed, "Do you have a quill and parchment?"


End file.
